Crown Bioscience Publishes New Study in PLOS ONE Highlighting the Use of Clinically Relevant 3D In Vitro PDX-Derived Organoid Models as Powerful Tools to Accelerate Cancer Drug Discovery

On January 5, 2023 Crown Bioscience reported that its study aligns well with the recent Senate Bill 5002, titled FDA Modernization Act 2.0, introduced in the United States Senate, which authorizes the use of alternatives to animal testing, including cell-based assays for the purposes of drug and biological product applications (Press release, Crown Bioscience, JAN 5, 2023, View Source [SID1234627461]).

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"This invaluable publication demonstrates our ongoing commitment to develop innovative preclinical models for our customers by including the provision of robust and clinically relevant in vitro solutions as early as possible in the drug development process followed with matched translational models downstream," commented Rajendra Kumari, PhD, Executive Director of Integrated Solutions at Crown Bioscience. "Organoids maintain a high degree of clinical relevance that cannot be achieved with traditional 2D cell lines and other 3D systems. As a result, in vitro drug screening with PDXOs represents a highly physiologically relevant platform that better predicts patient response making these ideal alternatives to animal testing."

This new study reports on the largest living, commercially available PDXO biobank—with approximately 550 tumor organoid models derived from a collection of matched PDXs representing 17 different types of carcinomas. The main findings of the study include:

Crown Bioscience, a global contract research organization (CRO), and JSR Life Sciences company, announced today their newly published study in PLOS ONE, a journal of the Public Library of Science (PLOS), demonstrating the establishment and application of a highly clinically relevant 3D in vitro PDX-derived organoid (PDXO) biobank for higher-throughput screening for cancer drug discovery.

The biological equivalence and interchangeability between PDXOs and parental PDXs were confirmed based on genomics, histopathology, and pharmacology.
PDXOs in 384-well format assays are reliable, robust, and suitable for higher-throughput screening for rapid identification of drug sensitivity and drug combination strategies, including for matrix screening, encompassing both lead compounds and indications.
PDXOs are amenable to engineering, such as gene editing to significantly broaden large-scale research applications, including in vitro/in vivo imaging analysis.
The successful co-culture of PDXOs with PBMCs and CAR-T cells to investigate immune modulation and tumor killing.
This large biobank provides a unique collection of matched in vitro and in vivo preclinical patient-derived models which can be accessed via Crown Bioscience’s online databases OrganoidBase and HuBase. This powerful translational tool has distinct advantages over other systems such as providing higher throughput with faster results as compared to in vivo models alone, with robust and renewable assay performance that reflects reproducibility of other in vitro systems. In vitro drug screening with PDXOs can rapidly be integrated into early drug development and interchangeably with translational studies and improved predictions of clinical outcome.

To read the full publication entitled "A living biobank of matched pairs of patient-derived xenografts and organoids for cancer pharmacology", follow this link.

Salarius Pharmaceuticals Announces Issuance of New U.S. Patent for Next-Generation Targeted Protein Degraders

On January 5, 2023 Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using targeted protein inhibition and targeted protein degradation to develop therapies for patients with cancer in need of new treatment options,reported that on December 27, 2022 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent No. 11,535,603, titled "Deuterium-enriched Piperidinonyl-oxoisoindolinyl Acetamides and Methods of Treating Medical Disorders Using Same (Press release, Salarius Pharmaceuticals, JAN 5, 2023, View Source [SID1234626155])." The issued claims cover the composition of matter for novel molecular glue degraders including Salarius’ preclinical cereblon-binding compound, SP-3204, through September 2037.

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Targeted protein degradation (TPD) takes advantage of the body’s own degradation system to promote the selective elimination of disease-causing proteins. The newly issued patent is based on the molecular glue eragidomide (CC-90009) that is known to target the degradation of GSPT1, a protein that is highly expressed in numerous cancers, including hematologic and solid tumors.

David Arthur, President and CEO of Salarius, said, "We are delighted to continue building our TPD portfolio using our deuterium-enabled chiral switching platform to identify and develop potential new therapeutics. SP-3204 is our second novel molecular glue following SP-3164, our lead molecular glue that is expected to enter the clinic later this year. We believe it is important to protect and expand our intellectual property as we advance new drug candidates, and we intend to continue seeking patent protection as our research advances. I extend congratulations to the Salarius team on this important validation of their accomplishments by the USPTO."

Developing next generation immunotherapies that address cancer Immune resistance

On January 6, 2023 Kineta presented its corporate presentation (Presentation, Kineta, JAN 5, 2023, View Source [SID1234625983]).

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Caris Life Sciences and Xencor Expand Target Discovery Collaboration for Novel XmAb® Antibody Drug Candidates

On January 5, 2023 Caris Life Sciences(Caris), the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare, and Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered antibodies and cytokines for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, reported an expansion of their collaboration to research, develop and commercialize novel XmAb bispecific and multi-specific antibodies directed against novel targets, identified and proposed by Caris, for the treatment of patients with cancer (Press release, Xencor, JAN 5, 2023, View Source [SID1234625982]).

Building upon the initial August 2022 agreement, this expanded collaboration will increase the number of targets and cancer types that Caris will interrogate with its proprietary, multi-omics discovery engine platform, Caris Discovery. Novel targets and their accompanying validation packages will serve as the substrate for drug candidate development through Xencor’s XmAb platform.

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"Xencor has an impressive track record of advancing drug development programs from early discovery through to the clinic, and we are excited to bring forward additional novel targets for their team," said David Spetzler, M.S., Ph.D., MBA, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Caris Life Sciences. "The aggregate strength of Caris’ platform permits the unlocking of otherwise inaccessible targets, and we look forward to realizing our shared goal of bringing novel antibody-directed therapies to patients with cancer."

"We are committed to leveraging our XmAb bispecific antibody platforms, building an internal portfolio of novel drug candidates and advancing potentially transformational treatment options for patients," said John Desjarlais, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Xencor. "Our new agreement with Caris expands a progressing collaboration centered on their innovative target discovery and precision oncology capabilities."

Under the terms of the new agreement, Xencor will receive exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize products directed to up to three targets discovered under the collaboration. Caris will receive an upfront payment and will be eligible to receive up to $187 million in development and commercial milestone payments. Caris will also be eligible to receive royalties on net sales of commercialized products resulting from the collaboration as well as future rights for molecular profiling and companion diagnostics.

Caris Discovery leverages the aggregate strength of Caris’ unmatched platform, combining insights generated from the molecular interrogation of primary patient tissues using ADAPT, the company’s exclusive aptamer-based proteomic profiling platform; a robust validation pipeline; and the company’s proprietary real-world data platform that integrates Caris’ extensive catalog of molecular and clinical data. Learn more about Caris Discovery here.

XmAb is a registered trademark of Xencor, Inc.

Synaffix Enters $2 Billion License Agreement with Amgen

On January 5, 2023 Synaffix B.V., a biotechnology company focused on commercializing its clinical-stage platform technology for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), reported the signing of a licensing agreement with Amgen to develop next generation ADCs (Press release, Synaffix, JAN 5, 2023, View Source [SID1234625979]).

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Amgen will gain access to Synaffix’s antibody conjugation technology platforms comprising GlycoConnect, HydraSpace and select toxSYN linker-payloads for one ADC program with the option to exercise exclusive research and commercial licenses for an additional four programs at a later date.

Under the terms of the agreement, Synaffix will be eligible to receive up to $2 billion in payments spanning signature, program nomination and milestone payments, plus tiered royalties on commercial sales which are consistent with the financials of the recently signed licenses of Synaffix ADC technology platform. Amgen will be responsible for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of the ADCs and Synaffix will continue to be responsible for the manufacturing of components that are specifically related to its proprietary technologies.

Peter van de Sande, Chief Executive Officer of Synaffix, said: "Synaffix is pleased to partner with Amgen, a world-leading biotechnology company, to enable novel ADC product development that will aid in the transformation of cancer treatment. Synaffix is extremely proud to contribute its ADC-technology and manufacturing expertise to Amgen’s renowned drug development capabilities. This is our 12th licensing agreement to date, which further builds on our achievements from 2022, where we were also very proud to receive multiple awards including Best ADC Technology Platform, Biotech Company of the Year and Business Development Team of the Year."