On June 1, 2022 Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") and GO Therapeutics, Inc. (Co-Founder and CEO: Constantine Theodoropulos, "GO") reported that Xyphos Biosciences, Inc., (a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas, "Xyphos") and GO have entered into a strategic research collaboration and license agreement to develop novel Immuno-Oncology therapeutics (Press release, Astellas, JUN 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234615305]).

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GO is applying new advances in glycoproteomics to develop antibody-based cancer therapeutics that specifically target cancer cells. Xyphos holds a novel and proprietary ACCELTM technology platform that uses its convertibleCAR (convertible Chimeric Antigen Receptor) on immune cells.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will collaborate exclusively to identify novel antibodies with high affinity to two different glycoprotein targets and apply these antibodies to a range of therapeutic modalities. GO will lead the collaboration to discover high-affinity antibodies against the two targets, and Astellas will be responsible for research activities, clinical development and commercialization of the therapeutics derived from the antibodies provided by GO.

Under the terms of the agreement, Xyphos will pay GO Therapeutics US$20.5 million in upfront cash. Milestone and contingency payments could total up to another US$763 million.

"We are excited to collaborate with Astellas to develop a new class of Immuno-Oncology therapeutics," said Constantine Theodoropulos, co-founder and CEO of GO Therapeutics. "The combination of GO’s targets and antibodies and Astellas’ ACCEL technology promises to create a new generation of cancer treatments that have a greater therapeutic index. This will enable oncologists to increase the efficacy of antibody-based immunotherapies for solid tumors with less damage to healthy tissues."

Naoki Okamura, Chief Strategy Officer at Astellas said, "At Astellas, we have positioned Immuno-Oncology as one of the Primary Focuses of our R&D strategy. We believe that this collaboration will bring synergies between the two companies’ cutting-edge research, and will ultimately lead to the development of new therapeutics for patients with great unmet medical needs."

On June 1, 2022 Antengene Corporation Limited ("Antengene" SEHK: 6996.HK), a leading innovative, global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class and/or best-in-class therapeutics in hematology and oncology, reported that an abstract titled "A phase I/II study of onatasertib, a dual TORC1/2 inhibitor, combined with the PD-1 antibody toripalimab in patients with advanced solid tumors (TORCH-2)" will be presented as a poster during the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) (ASCO 2022), taking place from June 3rd to 7th in Chicago, Illinois via in person or virtual attendance (Press release, Antengene, JUN 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234615296]).

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"Antengene is very pleased to share the clinical data from the TORCH-2 study with the oncology community. Based on the data outlined in the abstract, we are very enthusiastic to further explore the combination of ATG-008 and the PD-1 inhibitor, toripalimab, in the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors, including cervical cancer. We hope to validate these encouraging early data and thereby help guide the next steps in our clinical development program with ATG-008." said Dr. Kevin Lynch, Antengene’s Chief Medical Officer.

As of the data cut-off on December 20, 2021, the overall response rate (ORR) was 28.6% (based on 6 patients with 5 confirmed responses) and the disease control rate (DCR) was 71.4%. These data are based on 21 efficacy evaluable patients of 28 patients with advanced solid tumors enrolled in the dose-escalation and dose-expansion phases of the Phase I/II TORCH-2 study (median of 2 prior lines of therapy). No dose-limiting toxicities were reported in the dose escalation phase. Most common adverse events (grade 3 or greater) included lymphocyte count decrease, rash and hyperglycemia etc.

Toripalimab was developed by Junshi Biosciences.

The abstract provided several observations regarding cohorts in the efficacy evaluable patients:

Efficacy Evaluable Cervical Cancer Cohort: Among the 5 efficacy evaluable patients in the cervical cancer cohort, 1 patient with negative PD-L1 expression experienced a complete response (CR) and 3 patients experienced a partial response (PR); all responses were confirmed.
Additional Responses in the Efficacy Evaluable Patients: the study reported two additional PRs (one nasopharyngeal carcinoma and one ovarian cancer).
Progression Free Survival (PFS) and Duration of Response: The median PFS for all 28 efficacy evaluable patients was 3.52 months and the 18-month PFS rate was 31.2% (as of December 20, 2021). Note that the patient who achieved CR in the cervical cancer cohort had remained on treatment for 580 days.
The Recommended Phase II Dose was determined.

On June 1, 2022 Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) reported that it has appointed an investment-services provider to purchase 125,000 Ipsen S.A. shares, or about 0.15% of the share capital, over a maximum period of three months (Press release, Ipsen, JUN 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234615290]). The shares purchased under this agreement will be allocated mainly to cover its employee free share-allocation plan.

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This program is made pursuant to the authorization granted by the Combined Shareholders’ meeting, held on May 24th, 2022.