Varian Selected to Provide Compact Single-room Proton Therapy System for New Oncology Center in Singapore

On September 14, 2016 Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), reported it has been selected by Proton Therapy Pte., Ltd. (View Source) to install and service a Varian ProBeam Compact single-room proton therapy system for a new oncology center in Singapore. Construction of the new center is expected to begin by the end of 2016 (Press release, InfiMed, SEP 14, 2016, View Source [SID:SID1234515137]). In addition to a 10 year service agreement, Varian will also provide its Eclipse treatment planning system training environment for use by Proton Therapy Pte., Ltd. at its new Advanced Medicine Training Centre. Varian booked the order for the equipment in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2016.

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The Varian ProBeam Compact system is the only single room system capable of fully rotational intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). Treatments can be delivered with an unmatched combination of speed, flexibility and cost efficiency. The full-featured ProBeam Compact includes a cyclotron, Varian’s unique Dynamic Peak scanning technology for IMPT, a fully rotational gantry, robotic patient positioning tools, and a comprehensive suite of motion management tools. It incorporates cone beam CT imaging for positioning the patient based on high quality anatomical images with excellent soft tissue resolution, and Varian’s world-class Eclipse and ARIA software systems for the planning and managing of treatments.

"We selected the Varian ProBeam Compact system because it is the only system suitable to fit within the existing building constraints and for its many technical advantages, the full system integration with ARIA and Eclipse, and Varian’s history of innovation and providing its customers access to new technology for the life of the platform," said Dr. Djeng Shih Kien, chairman, Proton Therapy Pte., Ltd. "We look forward to working closely with the Varian team on this important cancer-fighting technology in Singapore."

"We have given our Compact system all the technical capabilities of our multi-room ProBeam systems so that clinics can offer the best possible treatment without having to make any sacrifices in performance," said Dr. Moataz Karmalawy, general manager of Varian’s Particle Therapy division. "By working closely with Proton Therapy Pte., Ltd. on the adoption of precision proton treatments, we are providing the opportunity for increased access to this technology for cancer patients across Southeast Asia and Australasia."

Third Rock Ventures Launches Relay Therapeutics with $57 Million Series A Financing to Create Breakthrough Medicines Based on Protein Motion

On September 14, 2016 – Third Rock Ventures, LLC reported the formation
of Relay Therapeutics with $57 million in Series A financing, including participation from an affiliate of
D. E. Shaw Research, LLC (Press release, Relay Therapeutics, SEP 14, 2016, View Source [SID1234520734]).

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Relay Therapeutics is building the world’s first dedicated drug discovery
platform centered on protein motion, with the aim of designing and developing new medicines that will
make a transformative difference for patients. Relay’s novel approach will build on recent scientific and
technological advances in structural biology, biophysics, computation, chemistry and biology to create
an integrated drug discovery engine fueled by a detailed understanding of the dynamic structural
changes undergone by protein molecules within the body. The company’s groundbreaking activities are
being spearheaded by a team that includes some of the world’s leaders in these emerging areas.
"Our integration of protein motion into the heart of the drug discovery process represents both a
philosophical and technological once-in-a-generation paradigm shift," said Alexis Borisy, Executive
Chairman and interim CEO of Relay Therapeutics, and Partner at Third Rock Ventures. "At Relay, we
have assembled the team and tools to build the first company with a dedicated drug discovery pipeline
centered around protein motion. This advancement in drug discovery – from static to dynamic – creates
opportunities to develop more effective therapies that we believe will improve and extend the lives of
millions of patients."

Scientific Approach
While much of biology is controlled by the three-dimensional motion of proteins, this reality is not
reflected in today’s drug discovery process. Relay Therapeutics is using emerging technologies and
insights to move from a static perspective to a moving one, allowing for the rational discovery and
design of medicines for diseases where effective therapies do not currently exist. The company’s drug
discovery engine illuminates the full mobility of a protein and the ways in which protein motion
regulates function. By applying these technologies as an integrated team focused on disease-causing
targets, Relay Therapeutics aims to develop breakthrough medicines for patients in need. The
company’s initial programs are focused on oncology.
"Relay’s novel approach enables us to observe large-scale and subtle protein motions, identifying new
opportunities for the drug design process," said Mark Murcko, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Relay
Therapeutics. "This innovative and integrated approach allows us to pursue novel medicines against a
wide array of compelling drug targets that, until now, have been challenging or even inaccessible."
History of Protein Motion in Drug Discovery
Sixty years ago, scientists acquired the ability to generate detailed static images of the molecular
machines that operate within our bodies, yielding an improved understanding of the molecular
underpinnings of certain diseases. By the late 1980s, after a generation of technological improvements,
the adoption of these stationary molecular snapshots into the drug discovery process marked a turning
point in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, accelerating the design of more effective drugs. In
recent years, however, it has become clear that such static images tell only part of the story, and that the
emerging ability to observe how these machines move, function, and interact has the potential to once
again transform the process of drug design. Today – two generations after the first static pictures of
molecular structures, and one generation after they were first incorporated into drug discovery – Relay
Therapeutics is drawing on new computational and experimental advances to move beyond the era of
static snapshots into one in which movies of the body’s molecular machines become central to drug
discovery.
Founders
Relay Therapeutics was founded by a group of experts in structural biology, biophysics and
biomolecular simulation who have played a pioneering role in the development of technologies that are
central to the company’s approach. The founding team is applying this expertise to Relay’s drug
discovery efforts, focusing on achieving a deeper understanding of the relationship between protein
motion and drug action. The company founders are:
• Matthew Jacobson, Ph.D., Professor and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department Chair,
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
• Dorothee Kern, Ph.D., Professor, Brandeis University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical
Institute
• Mark Murcko, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder, Relay Therapeutics; Senior
Lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• D. E. Shaw Research (David E. Shaw, Ph.D., Chief Scientist)
About Relay Therapeutics
Relay Therapeutics is committed to discovering and developing medicines that will make a
transformative difference for patients by building the first dedicated drug discovery pipeline centered on
protein motion. Bringing together the latest scientific advances in structural biology, biophysics,
computation, chemistry and biology, Relay’s drug discovery engine illuminates the full mobility of a
protein and the ways in which protein motion regulates function. By applying this approach as an
integrated team focused on disease-causing targets, Relay aims to develop breakthrough medicines for
patients in need. The company’s initial programs are focused on developing therapeutics in oncology.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Relay Therapeutics is a private company launched in 2016
with $57 million in Series A financing from Third Rock Ventures and an affiliate of D. E. Shaw
Research.

GlycoMimetics Doses First Patient in Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Drug Candidate GMI-1271 for Multiple Myeloma

On September 14, 2016 GlycoMimetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLYC) reported it has dosed its first patient in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its novel E-selectin antagonist, GMI-1271, combined with bortezomib-based chemotherapy, for multiple myeloma (Press release, GlycoMimetics, SEP 14, 2016, View Source [SID:SID1234515148]). The trial marks a second application for GMI-1271, which already is undergoing clinical study as a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

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The newly initiated multi-center, open-label dose escalation trial, which has begun in Ireland, will measure the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of GMI-1271 in combination with chemotherapy among patients who have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and have not responded well to standard chemotherapy. The company anticipates enrolling 24 participants in the trial.

"This new clinical trial provides an opportunity to evaluate GMI-1271’s ability to treat hematological cancers beyond AML," said Dr. John Quinn, Consultant Haematologist, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. "Preclinical studies showed promise for E-selectin antagonists against other types of cancers, so this pilot study in multiple myeloma may determine if GMI-1271 may become part of a bortezomib rescue treatment for patients not responding to standard regimens." Beaumont Hospital is one of a number of Blood Cancer Network Ireland (BCNI) sites participating in this study.

In preclinical studies, mice with multiple myeloma that were treated with GMI-1271 and bortezomib showed improvement in survival compared to those treated with bortezomib alone. Furthermore, in mice with myeloma resistant to treatment with bortezomib, addition of GMI-1271 restored bortezomib sensitivity. In addition, blood samples from individuals with multiple myeloma showed increases in cell surface expression of E-selectin carbohydrate ligands when cancer had relapsed, indicating E-selectin as a promising target for reducing drug resistance in certain groups of patients who have the disease.

Multiple myeloma is a neoplastic proliferation of plasma cells derived from bone marrow. The cells ultimately infiltrate a number of organs and lead to bone marrow destruction and failure. It is the most common tumor in the bone and the second most-common blood cancer in the US and Europe. According to EU data from 2012, 39,000 new diagnoses were made for multiple myeloma, and 24,000 people died from the disease there. Most patients currently ultimately relapse from chemotherapy, and the disease is not considered curable using current approaches.

In the Phase 1 study, participants will include individuals who have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and undergone bortezomib-based therapy with inadequate responses. The patients will receive one of four doses of GMI-1271 in combination with bortezomib, intravenously concurrently with bortezomib treatment. They will be followed after treatment to measure safety endpoints and efficacy.

About GMI-1271

GMI-1271 is designed to block E-selectin (an adhesion molecule on cells in the bone marrow) from binding with blood cancer cells as a targeted approach to disrupting well-established mechanisms of leukemic cell resistance within the bone marrow microenvironment. Preclinical research points to the drug’s potential role in moving cancerous cells out of the protective environment of the bone marrow where they hide and escape the effects of chemotherapy. In preclinical studies using animal models of AML, the results of which were presented at meetings of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper), GMI-1271 was also associated with a reduction of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and chemotherapy-induced mucositis.

Immune Design Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock

On September 14, 2016 Immune Design Corp. (Nasdaq:IMDZ) reported that it plans to offer and sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. All of the shares in the proposed offering are to be sold by Immune Design (Press release, Immune Design, SEP 14, 2016, View Source [SID:SID1234515147]). The offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or the actual size or terms of the offering.

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Jefferies LLC, Leerink Partners LLC and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. In connection with the offering, Immune Design intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares of its common stock offered in the public offering.

Immune Design plans to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund further clinical development of its Antigen Specific and Antigen Agnostic approaches, including CMB305, G100, ZVexNeo and ZVex2.0, continue developing the manufacturing process and scale up of its product candidates, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

The securities described above are being offered pursuant to a "shelf" registration statement previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the website of the SEC at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from: Jefferies LLC Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10022, telephone: (877) 547-6340, e-mail: [email protected]; Leerink Partners LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, telephone: (800) 808-7525, ext. 6142, email: [email protected]; or Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10152, telephone: (800) 326-5897, email: [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., to become Senior Vice President of Global Oncology at Lilly, Succeeding Richard Gaynor, M.D., Who is Retiring after a Distinguished Career

On September 14, 2016 Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) reported that Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., a world leader in the analysis of cancer genomics and resistance to targeted therapies, will join Lilly as senior vice president, Global Development & Medical Affairs, for Lilly’s Oncology business on January 1, 2017 (Press release, Eli Lilly, SEP 14, 2016, View Source [SID:SID1234515146]). He will succeed Richard Gaynor, M.D., who will retire after a distinguished career at Lilly.

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Dr. Garraway is currently associate professor of medicine in the Department of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, an associate physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He will report to Sue Mahony, Ph.D., Lilly senior vice president and president of Lilly Oncology. "We are pleased and honored to have Dr. Garraway join us at Lilly," Mahony said. "He has made a tremendous impact in his career and is recognized around the world as a leader in oncology.

"We know he will provide keen insight and expertise—and will continue to advance Lilly’s work in developing innovative new medicines to truly make life better for people with cancer around the world."

Mahony praised Dr. Gaynor for his significant contributions to the discovery and development of cancer medicines. "Richard is known for scientific rigor and deep expertise in drug development, coupled with a personal warmth and care for patients that is truly inspiring," she said. "He is leaving a remarkable legacy at Lilly through his impact on the pipeline, people and patients."

About Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D.
A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Garraway is director of the Joint Center for Cancer Precision Medicine, which spans Harvard teaching hospitals: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is also co-leader of the Cancer Genetics Program at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

In addition to his work at Harvard, Dr. Garraway is on the boards of major cancer centers, including Sloan Kettering, MD Anderson and Ohio State, and he is chairman of several major National Institutes of Health (NIH) committees. He also serves on the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) board of directors and was elected president of the American Society of Clinical Investigation–one of the highest honors for academic clinician scientists.

He is the author of nearly 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has received many awards, including the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, the Jane Cooke Wright Award from AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper), the New Innovator Award from the NIH, and an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Garraway’s industry activities also include being a founder of Foundation Medicine, a leading company in cancer genomics diagnostics.