On September 8, 2022 The Board of Directors of Sanford Burnham Prebys reported the appointment of David Brenner, M.D., as the Institute’s next president and chief executive officer (Press release, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, SEP 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234619283]). Brenner joins Sanford Burnham Prebys following more than 15 years as vice chancellor for Health Sciences at UC San Diego. He will assume his new role effective September 14.

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"Our Board is thrilled to introduce a leader of David’s caliber," says James C. Blair, chairman of Sanford Burnham Prebys’ Board of Trustees. "David is a highly respected physician-scientist with tremendous administrative and fundraising experience. He is the ideal candidate to grow the Institute into an even greater, more successful scientific enterprise dedicated to research that can improve human health."

At UC San Diego, Brenner guided the nearly $2 billion expansion of health sciences that included the opening of the Jacobs Medical Center and the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, where scientists try to speed research discoveries into new drugs and therapies. He also led the development of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, centered on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in its approach to public health research, education and service.

"I could not be more grateful to accept the position of president/CEO at this world-class biomedical research institute," says Brenner. "My roots are in biomedical research, and it’s an honor to be selected to lead Sanford Burnham Prebys’ extremely talented, innovative researchers."

Brenner is a leader in the field of liver research and is widely respected for his work advancing laboratory discoveries to the clinic setting. At Sanford Burnham Prebys, he will continue his research on fibrotic liver disease and liver cancer, using this as the foundation for preventing and treating liver disease. Brenner is a former editor-in-chief of Gastroenterology, the premier journal in the field.

"I’ve known about Sanford Burnham Prebys for many years—it has so much to offer. The culture of encouraging scientists to pursue opportunities and collaborating with institutions in San Diego and beyond leads to breakthrough research and makes it possible to achieve incredible goals," adds Brenner.

Brenner has been instrumental in starting several multidisciplinary efforts in San Diego, including the Institute for Engineering in Medicine, the Institute for Genomic Medicine, the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, the UC San Diego Sanford Clinical Stem Cell Program, and the C3 Cancer Center Consortium (comprising UC San Diego, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Sanford Burnham Prebys).

Brenner earned his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine. He was chief of Gastroenterology at the University of North Carolina and Chair of Medicine at Columbia University, before joining UC San Diego in 2007. His professional memberships include the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians (of which he is a past president), and an NIH National Council. At UC San Diego, he led the unprecedented expansion of the medical school. He has also served as a Pew Scholar and as a Clinical Investigator in the Veteran Affairs system.

Brenner succeeds Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., who announced her intention to step down as president in January after serving in the role for the past 12 years. Vuori will continue as professor at the Sanford Burnham Prebys NCI-designated Cancer Center. Brenner is assuming the role of CEO from C. Randal Mills, Ph.D., who left the Institute earlier this year.

On September 8, 2022 TumorGen Inc., and PhenoVista Biosciences LLC reported that they have successfully isolated and characterized metastatic cancer cell clusters (MCCCs) from the blood of lung cancer patients’, validating TumorGen’s novel MCCC capture technology (Press release, TumorGen, SEP 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234619282]). This achievement is a critical milestone in developing anti-metastatic drugs, called "cluster busters," which will target these cells and prevent cancer metastasis.

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"Anti-metastatic therapies that can stop tumors from forming in other organs is a tremendous unmet medical need," said TumorGen Founder / President, Jeffrey K. Allen, Ph.D. "Our platform can identify where MCCCs are vulnerable so researchers can develop drugs targeting these deadly clusters. TumorGen will partner with oncology drug development companies to bring these new therapies to the clinic."

Metastasis causes around 90% of cancer deaths. While scientists have long known that MCCCs drive metastasis, no one has efficiently collected them from patient blood. This study, supported by the National Cancer Institute shows that MCCCs can be readily captured, allowing for genomic and other analyses to identify their vulnerabilities and enable new therapies.

"Utilizing our high-content imaging expertise in conjunction with TumorGen’s platform, we consistently detected a number of metastatic clusters from several lung cancer patients," said James Evans, Ph.D., CEO of PhenoVista Biosciences. "These MCCCs from cancer patients contain both cancer and non-cancer cells. We are excited to enable cancer researchers to work with these rare and, up to now, inaccessible patient samples."

On a research and discovery level, the ability to characterize MCCCs from circulating blood will help illuminate how human cells form distant metastases. The technology showed tremendous sensitivity and specificity, surpassing previous efforts to collect and characterize MCCCs. These developments offer new hope for newly diagnosed cancer patients.

"Working with and treating cancer patients every day, I always encounter the need for new drugs that can benefit my patients," said Sandip Patel, M.D., Associate Professor and Co-Leader of Experimental Therapeutics at UCSD Moores Cancer Center. "Soon, I hope to see treatment plans that focus on both the primary tumor and the prevention of distant metastases. We need this comprehensive approach to significantly improve patient outcomes."

On September 8, 2022 Selexis SA, a JSR Life Sciences company, and NexImmune Inc. (Nasdaq: NEXI), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing unique approaches to T cell immunotherapies, reported that they have signed a service agreement to develop cell lines targeting rare cancers and autoimmune diseases and to advance two HLAs that can be used to expand treatments to more patients (Press release, Selexis, SEP 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234619281]). Per the agreement, NexImmune will leverage Selexis’ SUREtechnology Platform, a suite of cell line development technologies that significantly reduce the time, effort, and costs associated with developing high-performance mammalian cell lines.

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The Selexis-generated cell lines will be used to manufacture HLA IgG4 fusion proteins and T cell co-stimulatory monoclonal antibodies that will be incorporated into NexImmune’s proprietary AIM injectable nanoparticle modality. These nanoparticles are designed to be an off-the-shelf injectable modality to engage a patient’s own T cells to identify and kill a variety of diseased cells within the body.

"We are pleased to support NexImmune’s exciting programs. Its innovative T cell modulating nanotechnology has the potential to create therapies that provide better outcomes for patients suffering from rare forms of cancer and autoimmune diseases," said Mark W. Womack, Chief Executive Officer of Selexis and KBI Biopharma. "We are excited to continue our longstanding relationship with NexImmune and are proud to be its cell line development provider of choice. We look forward to helping advance their novel immunotherapies to the clinic."

NexImmune’s off-the-shelf AIM injectable nanoparticles, decorated with antigen-specific peptides and co-stimulatory molecules, have the ability to engage antigen-specific T cell populations at multiple sites in the body and specifically stimulate or tolerize them to address a range of diseases, including cancers and autoimmune disorders for which there are currently no effective cellular therapies available.

"We are thrilled to have a partner in Selexis, as an industry-leading cell line development provider," said NexImmune Chief Scientific Officer, Mathias Oelke. "Our long-established working relationship made the decision to partner with them again an easy choice. We look forward to working together as we develop biologics that have the potential to make a real difference in patients’ lives."

On September 8, 2022 Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Calidi), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is pioneering allogeneic cell-based platforms to revolutionize oncolytic virus therapies, reported that senior management will present a company overview at two upcoming investor conferences (Press release, Calidi Biotherapeutics, SEP 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234619279]):

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SALT New York 2022 on Monday, September 12, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m ET; and
Baird 2022 Global Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 11:35 a.m. PT / 2:35 p.m. ET.

On September 8, 2022 MAIA Biotechnology, Inc., (NYSE American: MAIA) ("MAIA", the "Company"), a targeted therapy, immuno-oncology company focused on developing potential first-in-class oncology drugs, reported that the management team will participate in the H.C. Wainwright 24th Annual Global Investment Conference that will be held September 12th – 14th (Press release, MAIA Biotechnology, SEP 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234619278]).

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The MAIA team is scheduled to present on September 12th at 7:00 am ET and will host investor meetings at the Conference through September 14th.

A webcast of the presentation will be available on the News & Events page of the Investors section of the Company’s website. A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the event.