Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Provides Poziotinib Update

On December 19, 2018 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NasdaqGS: SPPI), reported that based on a subset of data from MD Anderson’s ongoing Phase 2 study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not grant Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) to poziotinib for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have EGFR exon 20 mutations (Press release, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, DEC 19, 2018, View Source;19.htm [SID1234532181]). The company’s overall development plan and timeline for a New Drug Application (NDA) filing based on the first cohort of the ZENITH20 trial remains unchanged.

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Breakthrough Therapy Designation is one of several FDA programs designed to expedite the review of drugs to treat serious or life threatening conditions. Spectrum’s BTD application included data from 30 patients from the MD Anderson Phase 2 study who had failed platinum-based chemotherapy. The data demonstrated a confirmed objective response rate of 40% and median duration of response of 6.6 months. The safety profile in this subset was consistent with historical data published on poziotinib and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The historical objective response rates for mutation specific NSCLC patients range between 0% and 8% with tyrosine kinase inhibitors and for non-mutation specific NSCLC patients range between 0.8% and 22.9% with other treatments.

"Our enthusiasm for poziotinib, our commitment to the program, and our overall development plan remain unchanged," said Joe Turgeon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. "We will continue to work with the FDA to achieve the fastest route to approval of poziotinib based on our ZENITH20 study."

ZENITH20 is a Spectrum-sponsored, open-label, single-arm, multi-center, global Phase 2 study evaluating more than 300 NSCLC patients with EGFR or HER2 exon 20 insertion mutations. The study consists of four cohorts, each of which is independently powered for a pre-specified statistical hypothesis.

"Poziotinib’s overall development program is robust, and the clinical profile remains very attractive in an area of high unmet need," said Francois Lebel, M.D., F.R.C.P.C, Chief Medical Officer of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. "Data required for the NDA filing for previously treated NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations is expected to come from an 87-patient cohort in our ZENITH20 study. We expect to complete enrollment in this cohort in the first quarter of 2019, and announce topline data in the second half of 2019."

11500 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. 240 • Henderson, Nevada 89052 • Tel: 702-835-6300 • Fax: 702-260-7405 • www.sppirx.com • NASDAQ: SPPI

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Conference Call Details:
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 p.m. Pacific
Domestic: (877) 837-3910, Conference ID# 1577888
International: (973) 796-5077, Conference ID# 1577888
The conference call will also be webcast live. To access the webcast, please visit the Investor Relations page of the Spectrum Pharmaceuticals website at View Source
For interested individuals unable to join the call, a replay will be available from December 19, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT through December 26, 2018, until 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.
Domestic Replay Dial-In: (855) 859-2056, Conference ID# 1577888
International Replay Dial-In: (404) 537-3406, Conference ID# 1577888

About Poziotinib
Poziotinib is a novel, oral Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (EGFR TKI) that inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of EGFR as well as HER2 and HER4. Importantly this leads to the inhibition of the proliferation of tumor cells that overexpress these receptors. Mutations or overexpression/amplification of EGFR family receptors have been associated with a number of different cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer, and gastric cancer. Spectrum received exclusive license from Hanmi Pharmaceuticals to develop, manufacture, and commercialize poziotinib worldwide, excluding Korea and China. Poziotinib is currently being investigated by Spectrum and Hanmi in several mid-stage trials in multiple solid tumors.

About ZENITH20

The ZENITH20 study is Spectrum-sponsored, Phase 2, open-label, single-arm, multi-center, global study for patients with EGFR or HER2 exon 20 insertion mutations in NSCLC. It consists of four cohorts, each of which is an independent study with pre-specified statistical hypotheses and statistical power. There are two cohorts in the previously-treated setting and two in the first-line setting. The full poziotinib targeted therapy clinical program is focused on four development areas for EGFR and HER2 mutations, including previously treated NSCLC, first-line NSCLC, treatment of other solid tumors and combination therapy.

Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement.

On December 19, 2018 On December 19, 2018, BeiGene, Ltd. (the "Company") reported that it received notice from Merck KGaA ("Merck KGaA") that Merck KGaA was terminating for convenience the parties’ License Agreement dated December 10, 2013, as amended, for the Company’s investigational RAF dimer inhibitor lifirafenib (BGB-283) in the People’s Republic of China ("PRC") (Filing, 8-K, BeiGene, DEC 19, 2018, View Source [SID1234532301]). As a result of such termination, Merck KGaA’s exclusive right of first negotiation to acquire exclusive commercialization rights under the lifirafenib RAF dimer program in the PRC was terminated and the Company is no longer required to pay Merck KGaA royalties on sales of lifirafenib in the PRC or entitled to receive future milestone payments from Merck KGaA for lifirafenib. The Company’s ex-PRC agreement with Merck KGaA on lifirafenib was terminated in March 2017.

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Compass Therapeutics Expands Leadership Team with Appointments of Chief Medical Officer and Chief Financial Officer

On December 19, 2018 Compass Therapeutics, a biotechnology company committed to the ambitious goal of comprehensively drugging the human immune system, reported the appointment of veteran biopharma leaders Yu Liu, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, as chief medical officer and Lynne Sullivan as chief financial officer (Press release, Compass Therapeutics, DEC 19, 2018, View Source [SID1234532145]).

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Dr. Liu, who most recently served as vice president and head of early clinical development at Pfizer, will oversee Compass’ development of a deep pipeline of immuno-oncology and autoimmune disease candidates. The company’s lead candidate, CTX-471, a fully human monoclonal antibody that induces remodeling of the tumor microenvironment and leads to immune-mediated destruction of solid tumors, is expected to enter the clinic in the first quarter of 2019. More than 15 therapeutic candidates are advancing through preclinical development and the research team continues to generate an exciting array of novel candidates through the company’s proprietary antibody development platform.

Ms. Sullivan, who most recently served as senior vice president, finance at Biogen, will lead financial planning and management at Compass at a time of significant growth for the company.

"Yu and Lynne bring essential skills and expertise to Compass as we prepare to take our lead program into the clinic in the coming months," said Thomas Schuetz, M.D., Ph.D., the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer. "Their depth of experience and the strength of their leadership will serve us well, and we’re excited to welcome them aboard."

At Pfizer, Dr. Liu oversaw early clinical development of the company’s pipeline candidates in internal medicine, rare disease and inflammation/ immunology. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Liu led Biogen’s early clinical development effort in rare disease, with an emphasis on cell and gene therapy. Earlier, he held various leadership roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, culminating in his position as vice president of the oncology business unit, based in Shanghai, China. Previously Dr. Liu held positions at Essentialis Therapeutics and Amgen. Dr. Liu trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his Ph.D. in immunology from Boston University and his MBA in finance from University of Massachusetts, Boston. He also completed a residency scholarship program in clinical research at the Harvard School of Public Health.

At Biogen, Ms. Sullivan moved through positions of increasing responsibility during her more than 10-year tenure and was named senior vice president of finance in 2015. In that role, she led financial planning and analysis, corporate finance and tax functions for Biogen’s global operations. Prior to Biogen, Ms. Sullivan served as a vice president overseeing tax function for Merck KGaA’s North American operationsand was Serono’s Vice President, Tax, Americas and International for seven years. She was a Tax Partner in the Boston office of Arthur Andersen prior to joining Serono. She currently serves as director and chair of the audit committee for both resTORbio and Solid Biosciences. Ms. Sullivan earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Suffolk University and a master’s in taxation from Bentley University. She is also a CPA in Massachusetts.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals to Present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 7

On December 19, 2018 Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: JAZZ) reported that the company will be webcasting its corporate presentation at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA (Press release, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, DEC 19, 2018, View Source [SID1234532162]).

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Bruce Cozadd, chairman and chief executive officer, will provide an overview of the company and a business and financial update at the conference on Monday, January 7, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. PST / 6:30 p.m. GMT.

A live audio webcast of the presentation may be accessed from the Investors section of the Jazz Pharmaceuticals website at View Source Please connect to the website prior to the start of the presentation to ensure adequate time for any software downloads that may be necessary to listen to the webcast.

An archive of the webcast will be available for at least one week following the presentation on the Investors section of the company’s website at View Source

Varian to Present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

On December 19, 2018 Varian (NYSE: VAR) reported that Dow Wilson, chief executive officer, and Chris Toth, president of Oncology Systems, will present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time on January 7, 2019 (Press release, Varian Medical Systems, DEC 19, 2018, View Source [SID1234532163]).

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Information about the webcast of the company’s presentation will be available through a link on the company website at www.varian.com/inv­estors.