Sandoz receives complete response letter from the US FDA for proposed biosimilar rituximab

On May 2, 2018 Sandoz, a Novartis division, reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a complete response letter (CRL) regarding the Biologics Licensing Application (BLA) for its proposed biosimilar rituximab (Press release, Novartis, MAY 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234525974]).

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Sandoz stands behind the robust body of evidence included in the regulatory submission and is currently evaluating the content of the letter. While disappointed, Sandoz remains committed to further discussions with FDA in order to bring this important medicine to US patients as soon as possible.

There is a substantial unmet need for access to safe and effective therapies. Sandoz is committed to increasing patient access to high-quality, life-enhancing biosimilar medicines. As the pioneer and global leader in biosimilar medicines, Sandoz has five biosimilar medicines currently marketed in various countries worldwide, as well as a leading global pipeline.

Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," "evaluating," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labelling for biosimilar rituximab, or any of the other investigational or approved biosimilar products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from biosimilar rituximab and such other investigational and approved biosimilar products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that biosimilar rituximab or any of the other investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labelling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that if approved, biosimilar rituximab or such other biosimilar products will be approved for any or all of the indications in the respective reference product’s label. Nor can there be any guarantee that biosimilar rituximab, the other marketed products in the Sandoz biosimilar portfolio, or the potential products in the Sandoz biosimilar pipeline will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management’s expectations regarding biosimilar rituximab and such other biosimilar products could be affected by, among other things, regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; competition in general, including potential approval of additional versions of biosimilar rituximab or such other biosimilar products; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures; litigation outcomes, including intellectual property disputes or other legal efforts to prevent or limit Sandoz from selling its biosimilar products; general political and economic conditions; safety, quality or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG’s current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

MannKind Corporation to Hold 2018 First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call on May 9, 2018

On May 2, 2018 MannKind Corporation(Nasdaq:MNKD) reported that it will release its 2018 first quarter financial results on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 and its management will host a conference call to discuss the financial results and other Company developments at 5:00 PM (Eastern Time) on May 9, 2018 (Press release, Mannkind, MAY 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234525992]).

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Presenting from the Company will be its Chief Executive Officer, Michael Castagna, Chief Financial Officer, Steven Binder, Chief Commercial Officer, Pat McCauley and Chief Medical Officer, David Kendall.

To view and listen to the earnings call webcast live via the Internet, visit the Company’s website at www.mannkindcorp.com and click on the "Q1 2018 MannKind Earnings Conference Call" link in the Webcasts section of News & Events. To participate in the live call by telephone, please dial (800) 289-0438 toll-free or (323) 794-2423 toll/international and use the conference passcode: 3321662.

A telephone replay of the call will be accessible for approximately 14 days following completion of the call by dialing (844) 512-2921 toll-free or (412) 317-6671 toll/international and use the replay passcode: 3321662. A replay will also be available on MannKind’s website for 14 days.

AbbVie to Present at the 2018 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Health Care Conference

On May 2, 2018 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, reported that it will participate in the 2018 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Health Care Conference on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 (Press release, Incyte, MAY 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234525938]). Richard A. Gonzalez, chairman and chief executive officer, will present at 6:20 p.m. Central time.

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A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible through AbbVie’s Investor Relations website at investors.abbvie.com. An archived edition of the session will be available later that day.

Cellectis Files IND for UCART22 in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL)

On May 2, 2018 Cellectis (Euronext Growth: ALCLS – Nasdaq: CLLS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene-edited allogeneic CAR T-cells (UCART), reported that the Company has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting approval to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial for UCART22, Cellectis’ second wholly controlled TALEN gene-edited product candidate, for the treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in adult patients (Press release, Cellectis, MAY 2, 2018, View Source;utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cellectis+%28Cellectis+RSS+Feed%29#When:20:30:00Z [SID1234525958]).

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Pending regulatory clearance, Cellectis plans to initiate a Phase I clinical trial in the third quarter of 2018. The clinical research will be led by Dr. Nitin Jain, Assistant Professor, and Prof. Hagop Kantarjian, Chairman in the Department of Leukemia and University Chair in Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

"This IND application for UCART22 is an important regulatory milestone for the Company," said Stephan Reynier, Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, Cellectis. "The first ever FDA approval for a CAR T-cell therapy, directed against CD19, for pediatric and young patients with R/R B-ALL occurred in 2017. However, further CART approaches are needed, as some limitations of the CD19-CART treatment appear to be due to the expansion of CD19-negative leukemia clones.[1] The UCART22 product candidate will be evaluated in relapsed or refractory CD22 B-ALL, including relapses after CD19 CAR-T administration."

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a rapidly progressing form of leukemia that is characterized by the presence of a large number of immature white blood cells in the blood and bone marrow. In 2016, an estimated 6,590 new cases were diagnosed in the U.S., with over 1,400 deaths due to ALL.[2] Approximately 85 percent of ALL cases involve precursor B-cells (B-ALL).

UCART22 is an allogeneic, off-the-shelf gene-edited T-cell product candidate designed for the treatment of B-ALL. Like CD19, CD22 is a cell surface antigen expressed from the pre B-cell stage of development through mature B-cells and CD22 expression occurs in more than 90 percent of patients with B-ALL.[3]

"Given the high unmet medical need for patients who suffer from B-ALL, filing the IND is the first vital step to potentially creating a treatment to be manufactured on an industrial scale, allowing these patients to get the help that they need much faster," added Prof. Stéphane Depil, Senior Vice President Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer. "We are dedicated to making this a reality as soon as possible and look forward to hitting the ground running with the clinical trial once we obtain regulatory clearance."

The manufacturing process of Cellectis’ allogeneic CAR T-cell product line, Universal CARTs or UCARTs, yields frozen, off-the-shelf, non-alloreactive engineered CAR T-cells. UCARTs are meant to be readily available CAR T-cells for a large patient population. Their production is industrialized with defined pharmaceutical release criteria.

Nymox Announces Fexapotide Drug Symposium at AUA Annual Meeting San Francisco May 20

On May 2, 2018 Nymox Pharmaceutical Corporation (NASDAQ:NYMX) reported that there will be a Symposium on the Company’s lead drug Fexapotide held at the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association on May 20 in San Francisco (Press release, Nymox, MAY 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234525975]). The Symposium is entitled:

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"Phase 3 Clinical Studies and Biology of Fexapotide Triflutate Office Injectable for BPH"

and will feature a presentation reviewing therapeutic highlights from the Company’s extensive Phase III trials involving more than 970 patients in the United States. The presentation is chaired by Dr. Ronald Tutrone of Chesapeake Urology Research Associates, Baltimore MD and a panel discussion with panel members including Dr. Mohamed Bidair, San Diego CA; Dr. Ivan Grunberger, New York NY; Dr. Alan Hay, Salem OR; Dr. Susan Kalota, Tucson AZ and Dr. Jeffrey Snyder, Denver CO.

The Annual Meeting of the AUA is the largest urology meeting held annually in the US and brings together over a 4 day period urologists and health care providers, industry and interested parties from across the world with an expected attendance of over 16,000 visitors.

Nymox’s fexapotide has been shown to produce long-term improvements in lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a problem that afflicts an estimated 100 million or more men in the world. Fexapotide does not cause the annoying side effects and risks found with available treatments for BPH and has also been shown to lower the occurrence of surgery for BPH. Fexapotide is also in development for low grade prostate cancer.

For more information please contact [email protected] or 800-936-9669.

Forward Looking Statements

To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Nymox, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the need for new options to treat BPH and prostate cancer, the potential of Fexapotide to treat BPH and prostate cancer and the estimated timing of further developments for Fexapotide. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our clinical development program, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the clinical drug development process, including the regulatory approval process, the timing of Nymox’s regulatory filings, Nymox’s substantial dependence on Fexapotide, Nymox’s commercialization plans and efforts and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Fexapotide. Nymox undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Nymox in general, see Nymox’s current and future reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2017, and its Quarterly Reports