On July 2, 2020 Anixa Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases, reported that it has strategically realigned its business focus and redirected resources to exclusively focus on the development of therapeutics and vaccines in high-need patient populations (Press release, Anixa Biosciences, JUL 2, 2020, View Source [SID1234561652]). As part of this realignment, the company has suspended development of the Cchek liquid biopsy technology.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Going forward, Anixa’s operations will center entirely on the development and expansion of its therapeutics and vaccine portfolio, which includes a cancer immunotherapy program being developed in partnership with the Moffitt Cancer Center, that uses chimeric endocrine receptor T-cell (CER-T) technology, a novel type of CAR-T. Anixa is also developing a cancer vaccine technology addressing breast cancer with a specific focus on triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most lethal form of the disease, in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic. Anixa will continue drug discovery and development of Covid-19 therapies, in partnership with OntoChem, GmbH. In addition, Anixa will continue to examine emerging therapeutic technologies for further development.
"Due to the evolving dynamics of the diagnostics market during this pandemic and projected disruptions in this industry, we see greater opportunity to benefit patients and our shareholders as a therapeutics-directed company," said Amit Kumar, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Anixa. "The pandemic and market forces have made it clear that we need to pivot. Our confidence in the Cchek technology remains undiminished, but we feel the prudent decision is to suspend work on diagnostics at this time."
Dr. Kumar continued, "Anixa is a company built on the efficient use of capital. Capital allocation decisions are made based on the potential to provide the highest return to shareholders. We are all aware of the challenges to various industries caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The diagnostics industry is not immune, and considering this, as well as certain characteristics of our program, we have chosen this course of action. This decision will free up capital that we can devote to advance our existing therapeutic programs and to in-license and initiate innovative new assets that will help drive the greatest value for our shareholders."