On June 12, 2022 LegoChem Biosciences Inc. (LCB) and Glycotope GmbH (Glycotope) reported that they have signed a Research Collaboration and License Agreement to develop an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) by combining LCB’s proprietary ADC technology with one of Glycotope’s investigational tumor targeting antibodies (Press release, Glycotope, JUL 12, 2022, View Source [SID1234616599]).

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Under the terms of the agreement LCB has the right to exercise its option for worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the selected antibody as ADC, upon successful completion of a feasibility study. If LCB exercises these rights, Glycotope will receive an upfront payment as well as development and sales milestone payments plus royalties. Specific financial terms have not been disclosed.

"Through this collaboration, once the candidate ADC is discovered and nominated, Glycotope and LCB plan to advance this very innovative program to clinical stage as a competitive cancer therapy," said Dr. Yong-Zu Kim, CEO & President of LCB. "We are very pleased that companies with innovative antibody platforms, such as Glycotope have recognized the advantages of LCB’s linker-payload technology, which has been proven to be plasma stable as well as cancer-selectively activated."

"This exciting collaboration with LegoChem further underlines the value of Glycotope’s unique technology platform and strengthens our leading position in the development of highly specific glyco-epitope targeting antibodies," added Henner Kollenberg, CEO, Glycotope.

"Our antibodies are designed to deliver increased tumor selectivity. Combining these with LCB’s ADC technology platform offers the opportunity to develop ADCs with potential to perform beyond today’s best standard of care," said Patrik Kehler, CSO, Glycotope.

ADCs are a type of targeted cancer medicine that deliver cytotoxic chemotherapy ("payload") to cancer cells via a linker attached to a monoclonal antibody that binds to a specific target expressed on cancer cells. LCB’s ADC platform technologies overcome the existing limitations of ADCs by imparting a trinity of improved properties, (1) site-specific stable bioconjugation (2) cancer selective linker activation and (3) cancer-selective activation of potent payload, all of which in a significantly broader Therapeutic Window.

Glycotope’s antibodies target specific tumor-associated carbohydrate structures or protein/carbohydrate combined glyco-epitopes (GlycoTargets). Targeting these specific antigens enables broad indication range, long-term treatment potential and reduced on-target/off tumor toxicity, key elements of highly potent therapies. Based on this unrivalled tumor-specificity, Glycotope’s antibodies are highly suitable for a multi-function platform approach with independent modes of action to provide a tailored therapy format for as many patients as possible.

On July 12, 2022 Bicycle Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: BCYC), a biotechnology company pioneering a new and differentiated class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle) technology, reported that Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, has exercised its second option to initiate a new program, expanding the exclusive strategic collaboration agreement with Bicycle to discover, develop and commercialize novel Bicycle-based immuno-oncology therapies (Press release, Bicycle Therapeutics, JUL 12, 2022, View Source [SID1234616597]).

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Bicycle and Genentech are collaborating on the discovery and pre-clinical development of novel Bicycle-based immunotherapies against multiple targets. Pursuant to the terms of the February 2020 agreement, Genentech was granted two collaboration expansion options, each of which gave Genentech the right to add one additional program to the collaboration in exchange for a $10 million payment to Bicycle. In October 2021, Genentech exercised its first expansion option, and has now exercised its second expansion option, triggering an additional $10 million payment. None of the compounds in Bicycle’s wholly owned oncology pipeline, including its immuno-oncology candidates, are included in the collaboration.

"We are pleased both with the ongoing progress in our collaboration with the preeminent immuno-oncology team at Genentech, and that Genentech has once again elected to exercise an option to add a new program," said Kevin Lee, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Bicycle Therapeutics. "This represents the second expansion option exercised by Genentech under the terms of our collaboration agreement, and we believe this highlights the potential of Bicycles across a wide range of targets. We look forward to our continued collaboration to develop potential new cancer treatments based on Bicycles."

On 11 July 2022 BiVictriX Therapeutics plc (AIM: BVX), an emerging biotechnology company applying a novel approach to develop next generation cancer therapies using insights derived from frontline clinical experience, reported an update on the Company’s recent activities (Press release, BiVictriX Therapeutics, JUL 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234626591]). The Company has made significant progress with its lead candidate, BVX001; expanded its pipeline protection with further patent applications; and broadened its profile with attendance at international conferences and awards.

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BVX001 – LEAD CANDIDATE NOMINATION IN Q4 2022

BiVictriX has made significant progress in the creation and execution of the development plan for its lead product, BVX001, since the company’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) in August 2021. By investing additional time and resources, working closely with regulatory advisors, the Company is actively creating a clear path to Investigational New Drug (IND) status, minimising development risks. Notably, the work performed to date has enabled the Company to better understand the optimum range of target binding affinities for lead declaration – a milestone eagerly anticipated later this year.

BROADENING AND FURTHER PROTECTING THE PIPELINE

BiVictriX continues to expand and strengthen its strategic industrial and academic collaborations, acquiring access to state-of-the-art technical and disease area expertise for new target discovery and product development. This has allowed for the initiation of the Company’s antibody selections and proof-of-concept studies for its two additional therapeutic programmes, BVX002 and BVX003. In addition, BiVictriX is able to progress as planned with the identification of further cancer-specific antigen fingerprints across a wide range of solid and haematological tumour indications.

The Company continues to optimise and invest in BVX001 and, on 29 June 2022, filed a further UK patent application for BVX001, further reinforcing its already robust IP position.

STRENGTHENED TEAM

In line with its planned hiring strategy, BiVictriX has completed the recruitment of a highly talented scientific team establishing a fully functional technical capability within the Company’s labs at Alderley Park to further progress the development of BVX001 and the wider pipeline.

ROBUST CASH POSITION AND PRUDENT COST CONTROL

BiVictriX has a strong cash position and sufficient cash to execute its current strategy. In addition, the Company continues to assess suitable non-dilutive funding opportunities and applies prudent cash control to its operations.

BROADENED NETWORK

BiVictriX is attending major international conferences in order to broaden its network. The Company will present at the 14th Annual PEGS Europe event in November 2022, a prestigious scientific congress well-attended by the life sciences industry and investment spectrum.

The Company has also won and been nominated for a variety of industry awards during the recent quarter including winning ‘Investment Deal of the Year Award’ at BioNow’s 20th Annual Awards. In addition, CEO Tiffany Thorn has been named regional finalist for EY’s 2022 UK ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’.

Tiffany Thorn, Chief Executive Officer of BiVictriX, commented: "We remain focused on developing our lead asset, BVX001, and are making great progress. At the same time, we are exploring the breadth of our Bi-Cygni approach across a wide array of different cancer types through our broad pipeline of anti-cancer therapeutic assets, which includes BVX002 and BVX003, and are applying our learnings to each of our programmes. I am proud of the progress we are making as a rapidly emerging biotech company and the rigour we are applying to our business. I am of course also thrilled that we are being recognised by the industry as such."

On July 11, 2022 Halo Labs , a leading life science instrumentation company reported it has raised $6M in series C financing (Press release, Research Corporation Tech, JUL 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234616611]). The round was led by Agilent Technologies Inc. and includes participation from existing investors Research Corporation Technologies, Broad Oak Capital Partners, BioAdvance, and members of the Board of Directors and senior management.

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"We are excited to have Agilent as a partner in this journey as we scale our business in some exciting new directions."

This new funding will be used for continued commercialization of Halo Labs’ Aura platform , increasing manufacturing capacity and developing innovative new products to meet the current and new needs of pharmaceutical researchers.

"For the past two years, Halo Labs has deployed an aggressive growth strategy and has raised the bar for innovation in our market," said Rick Gordon , CEO of Halo Labs. "The fact that we were able to close on a funding round in the current economic environment demonstrates the success of that strategy. Our instruments have been adopted by virtually every major biopharmaceutical company and are now one of the leading tools in cell and gene therapy. With this capital, we will continue our current trajectory and scale our business in some exciting new directions. We are excited to have Agilent as a partner in that journey."

First launched in 2017, Aura from Halo Labs has disrupted pharmaceutical product development by combining multiple stability, quality, and safety assays into one instrument. Now available in six different models, representing tools specific for different therapeutic modalities and development stages, Aura instruments give pharmaceutical scientists access to an unprecedented amount of data in a matter of minutes, allowing for new therapies to move from the lab to the clinic faster and more safely.

On July 11, 2022 Sinopharm, China’s large state-owned biopharmaceutical company, reported that make a $1 billion bid to acquire BBI Life Sciences, a Shanghai company that offers products for research science (Press release, SINOPHARM, JUL 11, 2022, View Source [SID1234616598]). The acquisition process is in an early stage and includes several other interested bidders. BBI offers raw materials and consumables for life science research, as well as for the food and agriculture industries. BBI IPO’d in 2014 on the Hong Kong Exchange, but in 2020, its major owners, the Wang family, took the company private again. Sinopharm uses M&A and venture investments to expand its portfolio.

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