On July 14, 2023 Aravive, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARAV, "the Company"), a late clinical-stage oncology company developing targeted therapeutics to treat metastatic disease reported that Gail McIntyre, Ph.D., DABT, Chief Executive Officer will be participating in a fireside chat at the William Blair Innovator Series: Transitioning Biotech Breakthroughs to Commercial Success being held virtually on July 18, 2023 (Press release, Aravive, JUL 14, 2023, View Source [SID1234633239]).

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William Blair’s Innovator Series: Transitioning Biotech Breakthroughs to Commercial Success
Format: Fireside Chat with Aravive (ARAV)
Date/Time: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 12:00-12:45 PM ET
Host: Andy Hsieh, Ph.D., Biotech Research Analyst, William Blair
Presenter: Gail McIntyre, Ph.D., DABT, CEO, Aravive
Webcast: Conference attendees can check the schedule for more details or reach out to their William Blair salesperson.

A replay of the session will be available for 7 days following the event through the Aravive Events & Presentations section of the website View Source

On July 13, 2023 InnoCare Pharma (HKEX: 09969; SSE: 688428), a leading biopharmaceutical company focusing on the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases and ArriVent Biopharma, a clinical stage company dedicated to accelerating the global development of innovative biopharmaceutical therapeutics, reported a clinical development collaboration to evaluate the combination of InnoCare’s novel SHP2 (Src Homology 2 domain containing protein tyrosine phosphatase) allosteric inhibitor, ICP-189, with ArriVent’s furmonertinib, a highly brain-penetrant, broadly active mutation-selective EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) inhibitor (Press release, ArriVent Biopharma, JUL 14, 2023, https://arrivent.com/press-release/innocare-and-arrivent-announce-clinical-development-collaboration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=innocare-and-arrivent-announce-clinical-development-collaboration [SID1234633215]). Under the agreement, InnoCare and ArriVent will jointly conduct a clinical study to evaluate the anti-tumor activity and safety of ICP-189 combined with furmonertinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

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Furmonertinib is being advanced by ArriVent in global studies in patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC with EGFR or HER2 mutations, including exon 20 insertion mutations. It is approved in China as a first-line treatment for adults with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with EGFR exon 19 deletion (19DEL) or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutations, where it is being further developed for additional indications with Allist Pharmaceuticals who discovered furmonertinib.

ICP-189 is a potent and selective oral allosteric inhibitor of SHP2, developed by InnoCare for the treatment of solid tumors as a single agent and/or in combination with other antitumor agents. In a dose escalation study, ICP-189 demonstrated favorable PK, long half-life and safety and tolerability.

Dr. Jasmine Cui, Co-founder, Chairwoman and CEO of InnoCare, said: "NSCLC is the major subtype of lung cancer with huge unmet medical needs. We are glad to work with ArriVent to push forward the combination study and expect this innovative therapy to benefit global patients early."

"We are excited to announce this clinical development collaboration with InnoCare," said Bing Yao, Ph.D., Chairman, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ArriVent. "Combining furmonertinib with ICP-189 represents the growing opportunity for our furmonertinib clinical development program, in addition to ongoing studies in the monotherapy setting. If successful in clinical trials and approved, the combination of furmonertinib with SHP2 inhibitors could be another potential treatment option to help improve the lives of people living with advanced or metastatic lung cancer."

NSCLC is the predominant subtype of lung cancer, accounting for approximately 85% of all cases.

On July 13, 2023 Crossbow Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a novel class of potent and precise antibody therapies to treat a broad range of cancers, reported an $80 million Series A funding round led by MPM BioImpact and Pfizer Ventures, with participation from Polaris Partners, BVF Partners, Eli Lilly and Company, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Mirae Asset Capital (Press release, Crossbow Therapeutics, JUL 13, 2023, View Source [SID1234638849]).

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The Series A financing will allow Crossbow to advance the development of novel therapies that potently target peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs) on cancer cells, using antibodies that mimic T-cell receptors (TCR-mimetics). Crossbow’s development process starts with the identification, validation, and prioritization of the most promising cancer-specific targets. Using proprietary technology, the company then develops TCR-mimetic antibodies with both high affinity and specificity for cancer cells. Crossbow incorporates these TCR-mimetics into off-the-shelf, easy-to-assemble T-cell engagers and other immunotherapies. The resulting products, known as T-Bolt molecules (short for "tumor-bolts"), can be adapted to address a broad range of cancers. Crossbow can leverage this innovative approach to potently target the entire universe of cancer proteins.

"We aim to cure cancer," said Briggs Morrison, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Crossbow Therapeutics. "With unparalleled accuracy and potency, our revolutionary T-Bolt products strike cancer cells like a crossbow shoots bolts at its target. The influx of additional capital enables us to scale our efforts to build an arsenal of TCR-mimetic-based immunotherapies designed to overcome the limitations of current treatments."

"Our continued investment in Crossbow Therapeutics reflects our confidence in the team’s differentiated approach to vastly expand the range of targets for immunotherapies," commented Todd Foley, Managing Director of MPM BioImpact and Co-Founder and Chair of the Crossbow Board of Directors.

"We are impressed by the strong foundation Crossbow has built and world-class team it put together. We are excited to support the company in its efforts to transform cancer care with its innovative and far-reaching T-Bolt therapies," said Irena Melnikova, Partner at Pfizer Ventures and Member of the Crossbow Board of Directors.

Crossbow was founded, seeded, and incubated at MPM BioImpact by Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D.; Todd Foley; and Geraldine Paulus, Ph.D., who has since joined the company as its Vice President of Corporate Development and Operations. The founders assembled an international, collaborative, and passionate team with unmatched experience in inventing and developing next-generation cancer therapies. As Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Briggs Morrison brings over 30 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience to his position, having previously served in executive roles at Syndax Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Merck. Dmitri Wiederschain, Ph.D., recently joined the company as Chief Scientific Officer after previous leadership roles at Jounce Therapeutics, Sanofi, and Novartis.

On July 13, 2023 Elevation Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELEV), an innovative oncology company focused on the discovery and development of selective cancer therapies to treat patients across a range of solid tumors with significant unmet medical needs, reported the appointment of Joseph Ferra, M.B.A., as its Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Elevation Oncology, JUL 13, 2023, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=elevation-oncology-appoints-joseph-ferra-as-chief-executive-officer-and-promotes-tammy-furlong-to-chief-financial-officer [SID1234633240]). Mr. Ferra was previously Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Ferra will also join the Elevation Oncology Board of Directors. In addition, the Company announced the appointment of Tammy Furlong, M.B.A., C.P.A., as Chief Financial Officer, promoted from her previous role as Vice President of Finance and Accounting.

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"I am honored to formally take on the role of CEO at Elevation Oncology and thrilled to lead the Company during this pivotal stage as we initiate our Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating EO-3021 in the U.S. this year," said Mr. Ferra. "The preclinical and clinical data presented in recent months strengthen our conviction that EO-3021 is a potential best-in-class antibody-drug conjugate for treating patients whose solid tumors express Claudin 18.2. I look forward to continuing our work and building on our successes as we continue to drive growth and innovation in the field of selective oncology therapies."

"I have had the pleasure to witness firsthand the passion and dedication we bring to developing new therapies for patients in need, and am excited for the opportunity to continue working closely with our talented team in my new role," added Ms. Furlong.

"We are delighted to appoint Joe and Tammy as CEO and CFO, respectively, given the wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership skills they bring," said Steve Elms, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elevation Oncology. "This is an exceptionally exciting time for Elevation Oncology as we drive EO-3021 toward the clinic to further demonstrate its potential to target Claudin 18.2 and improve clinical outcomes for patients. Joe and Tammy bring proven records of achievement as biotechnology executives and the Board is confident that they, along with the entire leadership team, have the expertise, passion and commitment to drive the Company to success."

Mr. Ferra has over 20 years of experience in financial, strategic, and leadership roles in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Syros Pharmaceuticals, leading and coordinating financial and capital strategies and operational aspects for the company. Prior, he spent over a decade working in biotechnology and pharmaceutical investment banking, and he served as Managing Director and Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at JMP Securities and was a member of the investment banking groups at JP Morgan and UBS. In 2021, he became Chief Financial Officer of Elevation and in January of 2023, he was appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Ferra obtained a B.S. in Chemistry with Distinction from Purdue University and later completed his M.B.A. at The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Ms. Furlong has extensive leadership experience in accounting, financial reporting, information systems, financial transformation, global strategy and management areas encompassing more than 20 years with Fortune 500 publicly traded companies. She has served as the Vice President of Finance and Accounting at Elevation Oncology, leading its financial and operational teams since 2021. Prior to Elevation Oncology, she was a finance consultant where she focused on capital raising, strategic transactions and finance operations for multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Ms. Furlong received a B.S. in Accounting from Adelphi University, an M.B.A. from Bentley University, and a Graduate Certificate in Project Management from the Boston University Metropolitan College. She is also a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Massachusetts and a Project Management Professional with the Project Management Institute.

On July 13, 2023 TME Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALTME), a biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapies for treatment of cancer by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), reported a positive clinical update on the best response to therapy, reporting one patient achieving complete response in the GLORIA expansion arm evaluating NOX-A12, TME Pharma’s CXCL12 inhibitor, in combination with standard of care radiotherapy and anti-VEGF, bevacizumab, in first-line glioblastoma (Press release, TME Pharma, JUL 13, 2023, View Source [SID1234633236]).

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One patient (out of 6) in the expansion arm with a previous best response of 89.9% tumor shrinkage has achieved complete response, meaning the tumor disappeared completely and was no longer detectable by MRI. The complete response comes in addition to 2 patients with reported near-complete reductions (>99%) in tumor size, leading to 50% of patients in the GLORIA trial expansion arm achieving a complete or near-complete response.

"We are very pleased to report this highly positive update from the expansion arm of our GLORIA clinical trial evaluating our lead asset NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy and bevacizumab in glioblastoma," said Aram Mangasarian, CEO of TME Pharma. "It is very encouraging to see one patient achieve no detectable tumor and two patients coming extremely close to complete response, achieving a reduction in tumor size of more than 99 percent. This complete response took about 12 months of therapy to achieve, underlining the importance of mature data to fully evaluate the power of NOX-A12-based therapy. Taken together with the promising picture emerging from our survival data, it is becoming clearer that NOX-A12 used in this treatment combination can provide clinically meaningful benefit over standard of care for brain cancer patients, who currently have such limited therapeutic options."

The latest survival data reported from the GLORIA expansion arm demonstrated that after 15 months on study (median), 83% of patients (5 of 6) are still alive. As long as treatment or follow-up for these patients is ongoing, median overall survival (mOS) will continue to improve1. As a reference, the expected median overall survival for patients under current standard of care with chemotherapy refractory tumors (MGMT unmethylated) and whose tumor remains detectable after surgical intervention is approximately 10 months2.

In November 2022, TME Pharma announced interim results from the GLORIA expansion arm that demonstrated:

100% of target lesions treated with the triple combination of NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab were reduced by more than 50% as measured by MRI.
5 of 6 patients (83%) achieved durable partial responses (PR) by mRANO criteria3, which take into account radiographic response as well as other factors such as the clinical condition of the patient. One patient experienced progressive disease (PD) due to distant failure while target lesion control was maintained.
The triple combination was well tolerated and safe. No dose-limiting toxicities were observed.