On January 9, 2019 Athenex, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATNX), a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, reported that target enrollment of 360 patients in the Oraxol Phase III clinical trial in metastatic breast cancer has been achieved on schedule (Press release, Athenex, JAN 9, 2019, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2382773 [SID1234532606]). Athenex also reaffirms that top line data from the study is expected to be available in mid-2019.

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About Oraxol Phase III Study

Oraxol is an innovative oral formulation of paclitaxel, a very effective and commonly used anti-cancer chemotherapy, combined with HM30181A (a novel gastrointestinal tract specific P-glycoprotein pump inhibitor). The Oraxol Phase III study is an open-label, randomized, multicenter study to determine the safety, tolerability, and tumor response of Oraxol compared with IV paclitaxel in patients with metastatic breast cancer, with a target enrollment of 360 adult female patients. Secondary endpoints will measure progression-free survival and overall survival. More information about this study is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

The Orascovery platform was initially developed by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals and licensed exclusively to Athenex for all major worldwide territories except Korea, which is retained by Hanmi

On January 9, 2019 OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB:OBMP) ("OncBioMune" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of a proprietary therapeutic cancer vaccine immunotherapy and targeted cancer therapies, reported that its Board of Directors has appointed Brian Barnett, M.D., as Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Oncbiomune, JAN 9, 2019, View Source [SID1234532611]).

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Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Barnett served at Puma Biotechnology, Inc. since August 2016 ("Puma") most recently as a Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs. Prior to his time with Puma, Dr. Barnett was with Genentech, Inc., a subsidiary of Roche, from October 2012 to August 2016 and served as Medical Director, Kadcyla (T-DM1), Global Product Development Oncology and U.S. Medical Affairs. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Dr. Barnett was a member of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Barnett received his B.S. from Millsaps College, M.D. from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and completed his Medical Oncology Fellowship at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Dr. Barnett succeeds Dr. Jonathan Head as Chief Executive Officer at OncBioMune. Dr. Head will continue to serve the Company as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and now as its Chief Scientific Officer.

"It has long been our strategy to advance ProscaVax into mid-stage clinical trials for prostate cancer and find my successor from big pharma to lead our continued growth and pipeline development," commented Dr. Head. "Dr. Barnett was a natural choice given his experience at Puma and Genentech and understanding of our pipeline through his time as an advisor to the Company. I am confident that the Company is going to benefit from Dr. Barnett’s passion for drug development, business savvy and industry connections and I am thrilled to introduce him as our new CEO."

"I am excited and honored to take this opportunity to lead OncBioMune and spearhead development of our pipeline of exceptional drug candidates," said Dr. Barnett. "As an oncologist and as I’ve gotten to know the company more intimately, I see the opportunities that are presented with ProscaVax, the platform vaccine technology and our patented targeted transferrin transport technology. As we move forward with the Phase 2 trials of ProscaVax, I intend to focus on and expedite development of the transferrin technology simultaneously. This is an underappreciated part of our pipeline that I believe can possibly help cancer patients by addressing an unmet need and will resonate potentially as a tumor-agnostic, biomarker-directed and targeted approach to cancer therapy."

As previously announced, OncBioMune intended to host a shareholder call in December. With change in leadership, the company is rescheduling the call for later this quarter to give Dr. Barnett some time to get acclimated to his new position.

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On January 9, 2019 Cancer Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CGIX), a leader in enabling precision medicine for immuno-oncology and genomic medicine through molecular markers and diagnostics, reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 13,333,334 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $0.225 per share (Press release, BioServe Biotechnologies, JAN 9, 2019, View Source [SID1234532612]). Cancer Genetics also granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,000,000 shares of its common stock at the public offering price of $0.225 per share, less underwriting discounts and commissions. Cancer Genetics expects to receive aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $3.0 million from the offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s option to purchase additional shares. The offering is expected to close on or about January 14, 2019, subject to customary closing conditions.

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H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering.

Cancer Genetics intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to pay lender fees and other costs incurred in connection with the potential forbearance agreements it is negotiating with its banks, to pay certain costs previously incurred by it in connection with its terminated transaction with NovellusDx Ltd., and if any proceeds remain available, to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes.

A shelf registration statement on Form S-3 relating to the public offering of the shares of common stock described above was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and was declared effective on June 5, 2017. A preliminary prospectus supplement describing the terms of the offering was filed with the SEC on January 9, 2019, and is available on the SEC’s website located at View Source Copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained, when available, from H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, 430 Park Avenue 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by calling (646) 975-6996 or by emailing [email protected] or at the SEC’s website at View Source

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. Any offer, if at all, will be made only by means of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus forming a part of the effective registration statement.

On January 9, 2019 BerGenBio ASA (OSE:BGBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a pipeline of first-in-class drug candidates targeting AXL kinase to treat aggressive diseases including immune-evasive and therapy resistant cancers, reported that the first subject has been dosed in a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the anti-AXL therapeutic monoclonal antibody BGB149 in healthy volunteers (Press release, BerGenBio, JAN 9, 2019, View Source [SID1234532614]).

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BGB149 is the first functional blocking anti-AXL monoclonal antibody to enter clinical development and is BerGenBio’s second clinical stage drug development programme targeting AXL.

Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, commented: "We are delighted to initiate this Phase I study as planned. BGB149 has cleared all required regulatory pre-clinical evaluations. This AXL functional blocking antibody is BerGenBio’s second drug candidate to enter clinical trials: An important milestone in expanding our pipeline of first-in-class AXL targeting drug candidates positioned to treat aggressive diseases with severe unmet medical need. We are expecting results from this Phase I trial in 2019 and are looking forward to announcing BGB149’s further clinical development strategy in the coming months."

END

About BGB149 and the Phase I Healthy Volunteer Trial
BGB149 is a fully humanised anti-AXL functional blocking monoclonal antibody, developed and fully-owned by BerGenBio. A robust, high yielding manufacturing process has been established and preclinical studies have confirmed its mechanism of action as well as efficacy.

The Phase I healthy volunteer trial BGB149-101 will enrol up to 36 subjects andinvestigate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of BGB149 following single dose administration.The study is being sponsored by BerGenBio.

For more information, see ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03795142

About AXL
AXL kinase is a cell membrane receptor and an essential mediator of the biological mechanisms underlying life-threatening diseases. In cancer, AXL suppresses the body’s immune response to tumours and drives cancer treatment failure across many indications. AXL inhibitors, therefore, have potential high value at the centre of cancer combination therapy, addressing significant unmet medical needs and multiple high-value market opportunities. Research has also shown that Axl mediates other aggressive diseases

On January 9, 2019 ArQule, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ARQL) partner, Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN), reported results from the interim analysis of the registrational Phase 2 study with the orally administered pan-fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) kinase inhibitor derazantinib (BAL087) (Press release, ArQule, JAN 9, 2019, View Source [SID1234532595]). The analysis showed promising activity in patients with FGFR2 gene fusion-expressing intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) and also confirmed the safety profile and tolerability of the drug candidate observed in previous clinical studies.

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The interim analysis in the ongoing registrational Phase 2 study was conducted after 42 patients had been enrolled in the study, with a subset of 29 evaluable patients who had at least one post-baseline imaging assessment. The objective response rate (ORR) in the 29 evaluable patients was 21%. The disease control rate (DCR), reflecting the proportion of patients with a partial response or with stable disease, was 83%. The safety data obtained from all 42 patients enrolled to date was consistent with the results from previous clinical studies with derazantinib.

View Source

Peter Lawrence, President and Chief Operating Officer of ArQule, said, "We are pleased with derazantinib’s continued progress since it was licensed to Basilea Pharmaceutica in April 2018 in the US, EU, Japan and rest of world excluding Greater China. Under the terms of the license agreement, ArQule is eligible to receive up to $326 million in regulatory and commercial milestone payments, and we look forward to further progress and updates from Basilea."