On February 5, 2019 Personalis, Inc., a leader in advanced genomics for precision oncology, reported that they are scheduled to present at the upcoming Immuno-Oncology 360° Conference in New York on Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 3:50 PM, EST (Press release, Personalis, FEB 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234534800]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The presentation, entitled "A Universal Cancer Immunogenomics Solution for Biomarker Discovery," will discuss the current challenges facing investigators in immuno-oncology translational research and explore how the Personalis Platform overcomes the limitations associated with conventional NGS approaches that are used in translational research and the clinical development of new oncology therapeutics. The presentation will also introduce Personalis’ new ImmunoID NeXT Platform.

ImmunoID NeXT is the first and only platform to provide comprehensive analysis of both a tumor and its microenvironment from a single sample. The platform can be used to investigate the key tumor- and immune-related areas of cancer biology; consolidating multiple oncology biomarker assays into one. This maximizes the biological information that can be generated from a precious tumor specimen.

The presentation will be delivered by Kedar Hastak, PhD, Field Applications Scientist for Personalis.

On February 5, 2019 BioLineRx Ltd. (NASDAQ/TASE: BLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and immunology, reported that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 28,000,000 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), each representing one of its ordinary shares, and warrants to purchase 28,000,000 ADSs, at a public offering price of $0.55 per ADS and accompanying warrant (Press release, BioLineRx, FEB 5, 2019, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2386087 [SID1234533062]). The warrants will be exercisable immediately, will expire five years from the date of issuance and will have an exercise price of $0.75 per ADS. The gross proceeds of the offering to the Company are expected to be $15.4 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by BioLineRx, and excluding the exercise of any warrants. All of the securities in the offering are to be sold by BioLineRx. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about February 7, 2019, subject to customary closing conditions. BioLineRx anticipates using the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, but are not limited to, working capital and funding clinical trials.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as sole book-running manager for the offering. Maxim Group LLC acted as co-manager for the offering.

The securities described above will be issued pursuant to a shelf registration statement (File No. 333-222332) that was previously filed with, and declared effective by, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). A preliminary prospectus supplement related to the offering was filed with the SEC on February 4, 2019 and is available on the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov. The final prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website located at www.sec.gov. Copies of the final prospectus supplement may also be obtained, when available, from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad St., 26th Floor, New York, New York 10004, Attention: Syndicate Prospectus Department, or by telephone: (212) 667-8055 or by email: [email protected].

This press release does 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.

On February 5, 2019 Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LPTX), a biotechnology company focused on developing targeted and immuno-oncology therapeutics, reported the closing of an underwritten public offering of 6,571,428 shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase up to 6,571,428 shares of its common stock, as well as an additional 985,714 shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase up to 985,714 shares of its common stock pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional securities (Press release, Leap Therapeutics, FEB 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234533078]). Total gross proceeds to Leap from this offering were approximately $13,225,000, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses payable by Leap, and excluding any proceeds Leap may receive upon exercise of the warrants.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. and Ladenburg Thalmann acted as book-running managers for the offering.

The shares were offered pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-223419) that was previously filed by Leap with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 2, 2018 and was declared effective by the SEC on March 16, 2018. A prospectus supplement and the related prospectus have been filed with the SEC and are available, for free, on the SEC’s website at View Source Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained from: Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Attention: Equity Syndicate, 880 Carillon Parkway, St. Petersburg, Florida 33716, or by telephone at (800) 248-8863, or e-mail at [email protected]; or from Ladenburg Thalmann, 277 Park Ave, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10172, or by email 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.

On February 5, 2019 Bolt Biotherapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on unleashing the power of the immune system to achieve anti-tumor immunity in patients, reported the completion of a $54M Series B financing led by Pivotal bioVenture Partners with additional participation from Nan Fung Life Sciences (Press release, Bolt Biotherapeutics, FEB 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234533829]). Existing investors Novo Holdings and Vivo Capital also participated in the financing. The funds will be used to advance the company’s lead Boltbody Immune-Stimulating Antibody Conjugate (ISAC) into the clinic as well as to build the company’s pipeline and further develop its technology platform.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We have made significant progress with our Boltbody ISAC platform that harnesses the ability of toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists to convert cold tumors into immunologically hot tumors following systemic administration. We are well positioned to bring this novel technology into clinical development and look forward to sharing more about our lead program, pipeline and platform in the months ahead," stated Peter Moldt, Ph.D., of Novo Ventures and executive chairman of the board of Bolt Biotherapeutics. "We are pleased that this group of world-class biotech investors has chosen to join us on this important mission of developing a unique class of cancer immunotherapies."

"The rapid development of Bolt’s promising targeted therapeutic platform has been very impressive," noted Ash Khanna, Ph.D., venture partner at Pivotal bioVenture Partners. "Bolt’s proprietary ISAC technology is differentiated from other immuno-oncology approaches as evidenced by the strength of the preclinical safety and efficacy data, including durable systemic anti-tumor immunity and I look forward to working with the experienced team and investors to advance the company’s programs into the clinic."

On February 5, 2019 Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune disease, asthma and allergic disease, and cancer, reported it has entered into a research and license agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to develop and commercialize novel IL-15 cytokine therapeutics, including XmAb24306. XmAb24306 is an IL-15/IL-15Rα cytokine complex engineered with Xencor’s bispecific Fc domain and Xtend Fc technology and is Xencor’s most advanced preclinical cytokine program (Press release, Xencor, FEB 5, 2019, View Source [SID1234533064]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"This partnership with Genentech accelerates our immuno-oncology work by enabling the exploration of novel XmAb24306 combinations with Genentech’s leading oncology portfolio and our growing internal pipeline of bispecific antibodies," said Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer at Xencor. "A wide-ranging combination strategy will be critical to realize the potential of IL-15 bispecific cytokines such as XmAb24306, so we plan to explore our cytokines with a broad spectrum of leading commercial-stage and investigational cancer therapies."

"We believe cytokine therapy will play an important role in the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including cancer," said James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., global head of Pharma Partnering, Roche. "This collaboration with Xencor will further enhance our understanding of a critical immune activation pathway and may present a potential new way to use the immune system to target cancer."

IL-15 is a highly active cytokine, or immune signaling protein, that when pre-complexed with IL-15 receptor alpha (IL-15Rα) will bind to IL-15Rβγ and stimulate the expansion and activation of natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T cells, but with reduced regulatory T cell activation compared to IL-2. Xencor’s IL-15 bispecific cytokine platform provides a more druggable version of IL-15 with potentially superior tolerability, slower receptor-mediated clearance and a prolonged half-life, and is intended for development with a wide range of combination agents due to its proposed mechanism of activating tumor-killing immune cells.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will co-develop XmAb24306 and other potential IL-15 programs, in which the companies will share development costs and profits. Genentech will commercialize medicines worldwide, and Xencor has the option to co-promote in the United States. Additionally, the companies will engage in a two-year research program to discover new IL-15 drug candidates, including ones targeted to specific immune cell populations. Genentech will pay Xencor $120 million upfront, and Xencor will be eligible to receive up to $160 million in development milestones for the XmAb24306 program and up to $180 million in development milestones for each new IL-15 drug candidate.

The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and closing is expected to occur in the first half of 2019