On July 20, 2022 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) and Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERV) reported an exclusive, four-year global research collaboration focused on discovering and developing an in vivo gene editing program for a single undisclosed liver disease (Press release, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, JUL 20, 2022, View Source [SID1234616853]).

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Under the terms of the collaboration, Verve will advance the discovery, research and certain preclinical development of a novel in vivo gene editing program for the target of interest, with all program costs funded by Vertex. Vertex will be responsible for subsequent development, manufacturing and commercialization of any program stemming from Verve’s research efforts.

"This partnership with Vertex enables an important step forward for Verve as we build out our leading gene editing capabilities and pipeline of in vivo gene editing medicines to address serious diseases," said Sekar Kathiresan, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Verve. "This agreement validates the pioneering work at Verve to develop liver-directed gene editing medicines and expands the reach of our capabilities and breadth of our pipeline. We are thrilled to partner with Vertex to advance this important research and development program."

"Vertex is committed to discovering and developing transformative medicines for people with serious diseases," said David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer of Vertex. "We are impressed by the progress Verve has made and look forward to combining the expertise in gene editing and drug development of our two companies to serve more patients in need."

Transaction Terms
Under the terms of the agreement, Verve will receive an upfront payment of $60 million, including a $35 million equity investment in Verve. Verve is also eligible to receive up to $66 million in success payments, up to $340 million in development and commercial milestones, and tiered royalties on future net sales for any products that may result from this collaboration agreement.

On July 20, 2022 Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARWR) reported that it will host a webcast and conference call on August 4, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss its financial results for the fiscal 2022 third quarter ended June 30, 2022 (Press release, Arrowhead Research Corporation, JUL 20, 2022, View Source [SID1234616852]).

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Conference Call and Webcast Details

Investors may access a live audio webcast on the Company’s website at View Source For analysts that wish to participate in the conference call, please dial 888-243-4451 or 412-542-4135 and ask to join the Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals call.

A replay of the webcast will be available on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for 90 days. An audio replay will also be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will be available for 3 days. To access the audio replay, dial 877-344-7529 or 412-317-0088 and provide Conference ID 8080876.

On July 20, 2022 Auron Therapeutics ("Auron"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that target dysregulated differentiation and cellular plasticity for treating cancer, reported the completion of its $48 million Series A financing round (Press release, Auron Therapeutics, JUL 20, 2022, View Source [SID1234616830]). Proceeds will be used to advance the lead program toward clinical development and drive additional programs into drug discovery. Funds will also be used to expand the proprietary, machine learning-based computational platform, AURigin, that is used to identify novel drug targets, and add personnel to support and accelerate research and development.

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The financing round was led by DCVC Bio with additional support from new investors Mubadala Capital and Apollo Health Ventures, and from existing investors Arkin Bio Ventures, Polaris Partners, Qiming Venture Partners USA, Eli Lilly and Company, BrightEdge (the investment arm of the American Cancer Society), Franklin Berger and Casdin Capital. Dr. Eric Shiozaki, Ph.D., Partner at DCVC Bio and Dr. Alexandra Cantley, Ph.D., Partner at Polaris Partners will be joining the Company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Rami Hannoush, Ph.D., Partner at Mubadala Capital, and Dr. Marianne Mertens, Ph.D., Partner at Apollo Health Ventures, will join the Company as Board observers.

"Dysregulation of normal cellular differentiation processes can alter normal cell biology leading to tumor formation and progression," said Dr. Yen, founder and CEO. "Most current cancer therapeutics aim to kill rapidly dividing tumor cells or by activating the patient’s immune responses. Our approach is different. We have built a machine learning, multi-omics based computational platform that enables us to rapidly identify the differentiation pathways that have been hijacked by the cancer cells. Drugging these pathways pushes the cancer cells to stop proliferating by promoting differentiation and/or cell death."

Dr. Yen added, "I am equally as excited about the strong team we are building at Auron. Dave is a passionate drug hunter and medicinal chemist with over twenty years of experience, while Tom brings an array of computational approaches to the team as a leading cancer systems biologist at UCLA. I am also excited to have Andrea join our leadership team to support the growth and cultural build of the company and Briggs’ exceptional experience developing numerous therapies across multiple disease areas, has already proven to be a valuable asset to the company."

Dr. Shiozaki shared, "Targeting cellular plasticity and differentiation pathways identified through Auron’s proprietary multi-omic translational platform, is distinct from existing anti-cancer approaches available today and has the potential to be employed as monotherapy or in combination with different therapeutic modalities. We are excited to participate in Auron’s growth and look forward to the advance of its lead candidate into clinical development, as well as the development of its drug discovery pipeline."

Dr. Morrison added, "The novel targets identified using Auron’s platform may enable completely innovative approaches to treating cancer that are complementary, rather than competitive, with existing therapeutics."

On July 20, 2022 HUYA Inc. ("Huya" or the "Company") (NYSE: HUYA), a leading game live streaming platform in China, reported that it will report its second quarter 2022 unaudited financial results on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, before the open of U.S. markets (Press release, HUYA Bioscience, JUL 20, 2022, View Source [SID1234616828]).

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The Company’s management will host an earnings conference call at 7:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on August 16, 2022 (7:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time on August 16, 2022).

For participants who wish to join the call, please complete online registration using the link provided below 20 minutes prior to the scheduled call start time. Upon registration, participants will receive the conference call access information, including dial-in numbers, a personal PIN and an e-mail with detailed instructions to join the conference call.

Participant Online Registration: https://register.vevent.com/register/BIa451f7eabc6c4462aa4aa81302702803

Once complete the registration, please dial-in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time of the earnings call and enter the personal PIN as instructed to connect to the call.

A live webcast of the earnings call will be accessible at View Source and a replay of the webcast will be available following the session.

On July 20, 2022 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and iSTAR Medical SA, reported a strategic transaction to further develop and commercialize iSTAR Medical’s MINIject device, a minimally invasive glaucoma surgical (MIGS) device for patients with glaucoma (Press release, AbbVie, JUL 20, 2022, View Source [SID1234616827]). This complementary alliance will support iSTAR Medical’s development and commercial efforts for MINIject, as well as provide an opportunity to expand AbbVie’s eye care business, building on its glaucoma portfolio which includes drops, sustained release implants, and stent offerings.

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MINIject received Conformité Européenne (CE) marking approval to commercialize in European countries in the last quarter of 2021 and launched commercially in select European countries in early 2022. iSTAR Medical is currently enrolling a U.S. Premarket Approval study (STAR-V) to enable commercialization in the U.S.

"As a leading company in eye care with a commitment to a broad and diverse portfolio from the front to the back of the eye, along with our global footprint and infrastructure in glaucoma, we are well-positioned to support bringing this MIGS offering to patients and glaucoma specialists through this strategic alliance," said Michael Robinson, M.D, Vice President, Global Therapeutic Area Head of Eye Care, AbbVie. "This alliance with iSTAR Medical is an important step as we continue to be an innovator in glaucoma by maximizing the value of interventional approaches throughout the treatment paradigm."

"Today’s announcement is validation of the transformational role of MINIject in the treatment of glaucoma," said Michel Vanbrabant, Chief Executive Officer, iSTAR Medical. "Our commitment has always been to enable more glaucoma patients globally to be treated effectively in a minimally-invasive manner with our MINIject MIGS device, and this alliance accelerates that goal, especially in the United States. We will benefit from AbbVie’s strong global experience and knowledge base already established in glaucoma, and we are excited to be working with such a world class team."

Under the terms of the agreement, iSTAR Medical will receive a $60M non-dilutive upfront payment and will continue to develop and commercialize MINIject until completion of the STAR-V clinical study. AbbVie will hold the exclusive right to acquire iSTAR Medical and lead subsequent global development and commercialization of the MINIject device. If AbbVie exercises the right to acquire iSTAR, the stockholders of iSTAR Medical would also be eligible to receive additional contingent payments of up to $475M in a closing payment and upon achievement of certain predetermined milestones.

iSTAR Medical will remain an independent company through the completion of the STAR-V study. This financing will support the continued development and commercialization of MINIject, including ongoing clinical studies and further enhancements to the technology. SVB Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to iSTAR Medical.