Tusk Therapeutics to be acquired by Roche

On September 28, 2018 Tusk Therapeutics Ltd ("Tusk") reported that acquired by Roche (Press release, Tusk Therapeutics, SEP 28, 2018, View Source [SID1234533243]). Tusk has developed an antibody with a novel mode of action aimed at depleting regulatory T-cells (Tregs). Tregs suppress immune responses, including those against cancer cells. Preclinical data has shown that depleting Tregs from the tumor microenvironment can enhance and/or restore anti-tumor immunity. Tusk’s antibody has been designed to deplete these harmful Tregs, while not interfering with other immune cells acting against the tumor. Tusk’s program is expected to start clinical trials in cancer patients towards the end of 2019.

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Tusk was founded in 2014 by Droia Oncology Ventures, Tusk’s majority shareholder. Under the terms of the agreement, Tusk’s shareholders will receive an upfront cash payment of Euro 70 million, plus additional contingent payments of up to Euro 585 million based on achievements of certain predetermined milestones.

Luc Dochez, Chief Executive Officer of Tusk Therapeutics, said: "We are delighted that Roche will further develop this novel antibody and drive the development ahead. The remaining portfolio of our immune-oncology targets will be further developed by Black Belt Therapeutics, a newly formed company spun out of Tusk Therapeutics."

TRILLIUM THERAPEUTICS TO PROVIDE UPDATE ON TTI-621 CLINICAL
PROGRAMS AT TWO SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES

On September 28, 2018 Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ/TSX: TRIL), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, reported that it will be providing updates on its two clinical trials with TTI-621, a dual function SIRPaFc IgG1 decoy receptor that targets CD47, at two upcoming scientific conferences (Press release, Trillium Therapeutics, SEP 28, 2018, View Source [SID1234529681]). As previously announced, the presentations will be made on September 28 at the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Cutaneous Lymphoma Task Force (EORTC CLTF) meeting in St. Gallen, Switzerland and the 16th Annual Discovery on Target conference in Boston, MA. The presentations will be available on the Company’s website after the presentations have been delivered.

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The presentation at the EORTC CLTF meeting will provide an update on the safety and efficacy of the ongoing multicenter, open-label phase 1 intratumoral trial of TTI-621 in 23 patients with relapsed/refractory mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome, 20 of whom only received induction therapy consisting of 1-6 injections over 2 weeks. Local delivery of TTI-621 was well tolerated, with no treatment-related > Grade 3 adverse events or dose-limiting toxicity observed. Reductions in CAILS scores, which measure local lesion responses, were observed in 89% of patients, with 42% exhibiting reductions of 50% or greater. These responses occurred rapidly within the 2- week induction period. Similar

CAILS scores changes were seen in adjacent non-injected lesions, suggesting locoregional effects that were not confined to the site of injection. Evidence of a systemic (abscopal) effect was observed in 1 of 2 patients receiving continuation monotherapy beyond the 2-week induction therapy. In addition, data suggest a combination effect with pegylated IFN-alpha-2a.

"These data expand on the observations first presented at ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) 2017, and highlight the potential value of localized delivery of TTI-621 in heavily pre-treated mycosis fungoides/ Sézary syndrome patients," said Dr. Yaping Shou, Trillium’s Chief Medical Officer. "We are particularly encouraged to see reductions in CAILS scores after such a short course of therapy, and the abscopal effect seen in one of the two patients receiving continuation treatment suggest that a longer duration of dosing may offer further opportunity to induce systemic responses."

"The ability to induce rapid anti-tumor responses through local administration with our potent IgG1-containing Fc fusion protein opens up numerous possibilities, not only in mycosis fungoides but also in many solid tumors. As is the case with other agents targeting the innate immune system, such as STING and TLR agonists, local administration is the route of choice to ensure instant high local drug concentrations at the site of the tumor," said Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, Trillium’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "We intend to expand the intratumoral program both with respect to additional indications and combination therapies with complementary immunostimulatory therapies, especially those acting downstream of CD47."

The presentation at the Discovery on Target conference will provide a high level update of the safety and efficacy of the ongoing multicenter, open-label phase 1a/b intravenous trial of TTI-621 in patients with relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancies. Based on an expanded data set of 163 patients, weekly infusions of TTI-621 were shown to be well tolerated. Thrombocytopenia was the most frequent grade 3 or higher treatment-emergent adverse event, occurring in 20% of patients. Platelet reductions, however, were shown to be transient and pre-dose platelet levels remained steady during the course of the study. Notably, the reversible thrombocytopenia did not lead to an increased risk of bleeding and had no impact on drug delivery, nor was there a significant impact of TTI-621 on hemoglobin levels. Monotherapy efficacy was observed in patients with mycosis fungoides (19% ORR, n=21), peripheral T-cell lymphoma, or PTCL (25% ORR, n=12), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or DLBCL (25% ORR, n=8), and in DLBCL patients when combined with rituximab (25% ORR, n=24). This clinical activity was observed in patients receiving relatively low doses of drug (0.2 mg/kg for monotherapy or 0.1 mg/kg in combination with rituximab). Dose intensification beyond 0.2 mg/kg is currently ongoing, and doses of 0.5 mg/kg have been well tolerated for up to 27 weeks.

"These data reinforce our prior observations that thrombocytopenia, which we believe to be an on-target pharmacodynamic effect, does not appear to be clinically consequential. Based on the data in hand, the transient decrease in platelets is not associated with bleeding events or premature treatment discontinuations, and has not impacted our ability to dose intensify patients beyond 0.2 mg/kg," commented Dr. Shou. "The monotherapy

anti-tumor activity we have observed in multiple disease indications is particularly intriguing given that patients have received relatively low doses of drug. Characterizing the efficacy of TTI-621 at higher doses, which is currently ongoing, remains a top priority in the intravenous trial."

"Having concluded this exploratory phase in a wide variety of hematologic malignancies and having gained increased clarity with respect to potential registration paths, we plan to move forward with three distinct clinical programs: intratumoral mono- and combination-therapy in CTCL, intravenous monotherapy in both CTCL and PTCL, as well as intravenous combination therapy in DLBCL," said Dr. Stiernholm. "While we are gratified to have observed meaningful clinical responses with monotherapy at low doses, we are equally excited about how well tolerated TTI-621 appears to be, allowing us to incorporate dose intensification as a major component of our clinical efforts moving forward."

Altimmune Announces Pricing of $12 Million Underwritten Public Offering

On September 28, 2018 Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), a clinical-stage immunotherapeutics company, reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of common units and pre-funded units for a combined total of 2,400,000 units (Press release, Altimmune, SEP 28, 2018, View Source [SID1234529901]). Each common unit is being sold at a public offering price of $5.00 and consists of a share of its common stock and a warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $6.00. Each warrant will be exercisable immediately and will expire five years from the date of issuance. Each pre-funded unit consists of a pre-funded warrant to purchase one share of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share and a warrant. The purchase price of each Pre-funded Unit is equal to the price per common unit being sold to the public in this offering, minus $0.01. The pre-funded warrants will be immediately exercisable and may be exercised at any time until all of the pre-funded warrants are exercised in full.

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Roth Capital Partners is acting as sole manager for the offering.

Expected gross proceeds are expected to be approximately $12 million before the underwriting discount and offering expenses payable by Altimmune. In addition, Altimmune has granted the underwriters a 30-day overallotment option to purchase up to 15% of the securities issued in the offering.

The offering is expected to close on or about October 2, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions. Altimmune intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for the continued advancement of development activities for our clinical-stage product pipeline, general corporate purposes, strategic growth opportunities and repayment of our outstanding $1.5 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible notes.

The securities described above are being offered by Altimmune pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-226441) that was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 27, 2018. A final prospectus relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. Copies of the final prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained, when available, by contacting Roth Capital Partners, LLC, Attention: Equity Capital Markets, 888 San Clemente Drive, Suite 400, Newport Beach, California 92660, by telephone at (800) 678-9147 or e-mail at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a 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.

ITUS Corporation Changing Company Name to Anixa Biosciences and Stock Ticker Symbol to ANIX

On September 28, 2018 ITUS Corporation (the "Company") (NASDAQ: ITUS), a biotechnology company focused on using the body’s immune system to fight cancer, reported that on October 1, 2018, the Company will officially change its name to Anixa Biosciences, Inc (Press release, Anixa Biosciences, SEP 28, 2018, View Source [SID1234530494]). Effective at the start of trading on October 1, 2018, the Company’s shares will trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the new name, and the new stock symbol will be "ANIX." The Company’s website will be accessible at www.anixa.com.

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Amit Kumar, the Company’s CEO stated, "We are focused on making advances in the biotechnology field. We began in diagnostics with development of the Cchek platform for early detection of cancer and are expanding into cancer therapeutics as we develop our CAR-T therapy for ovarian cancer. We believe the name Anixa Biosciences more accurately reflects this focus and clearly identifies us as biotech company. The ITUS name is more reflective of our legacy operations."

New preclinical data support good tolerability properties for the 4-1BB antibody ATOR-1017

On September 28, 2019 Alligator Bioscience (Nasdaq Stockholm: ATORX), a biotechnology company developing antibody-based pharmaceuticals for tumor-directed immunotherapy, reported that it will present preclinical safety data for the drug candidate ATOR-1017 at the 4th CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer lmmunotherapy Conference in New York, USA (Press release, Alligator Bioscience, SEP 28, 2018, View Source [SID1234538676]). The conference is taking place from September 30 – October 3, 2018.

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ATOR-1017 is a monoclonal antibody in development for the treatment of metastasizing cancer. It activates the costimulatory receptor 4-1BB and its immunostimulatory function is dependent on cross-linking to Fc-gamma receptors on immune cells.

The new data include preclinical safety studies supporting a good tolerability profile of ATOR-1017. The inclination for inducing cytokine release, a common adverse effect of immunotherapy, was assessed in standardized assays and was found to be low. In accord, ATOR-1017 was found to be well tolerated in a repeated dose toxicology study with no signs of adverse events. Furthermore, the expression of 4-1BB in circulating immune cells of cancer patients was found to be low. Also, co-expression of the two targets needed for effect, 4-1BB and Fc-gamma receptors, was seen in tumors but lacking in healthy liver tissue. Taken together, these data support the potential of ATOR-1017 to induce stronger immune activation in the tumor area compared to other parts of the body, which is believed to minimize the risk of systemic immune-related adverse events.

"ATOR-1017 is designed to have a superior safety and efficacy profile through its tumor-directed properties, and we are delighted that our new preclinical safety data support this. We will now push ahead with CTA-enabling activities which will allow us to begin clinical trials in cancer patients next year," said Christina Furebring, SVP Research, at Alligator Bioscience.

Dr Eva Dahlén, Senior Director Business Development at Alligator, will present a poster (A183) with the title: "ATOR-1017; a 4-1BB antibody designed for superior safety/efficacy profile in cancer immunotherapy" on Sunday, September 30, 11:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m. EDT (17:45-20:15 CEST).

For further information, please contact:
Cecilia Hofvander, Director Investor Relations & Communications
Phone +46 46 286 44 95
E-mail: [email protected]

This information is such information as Alligator Bioscience AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 8:30 a.m. CEST on September 28, 2018.

About ATOR-1017
ATOR-1017 is an immunostimulatory antibody (IgG4) that binds to the costimulatory receptor 4-1BB (also known as CD137) expressed on tumor-specific T cells and NK cells. 4-1BB has the capacity to support the immune cells involved in tumor control, making 4-1BB a particularly attractive target for cancer immunotherapy.

ATOR-1017 is differentiated from other 4-1BB antibodies, partly because of its unique binding profile, but also because its immunostimulatory function is dependent on cross-linking to Fc-gamma receptors on immune cells. The aim is to achieve effective tumor-targeted immune stimulation with minimum side effects. ATOR-1017 is planned to enter clinical studies 2019.