On May 17, 2018 Celyad (Euronext Brussels and Paris, and NASDAQ: CYAD), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of specialized CAR-T cell based therapies, reported the pricing of a global offering of 1,800,000 ordinary shares, comprised of 523,913 ordinary shares in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) offered in the United States, Canada and certain countries outside of Europe at a price per ADS of $26.28, and 1,276,087 ordinary shares in Europe and certain countries outside of the United States and Canada in a concurrent private placement at a price per share of €22.29 (the "global offering") (Press release, Celyad, MAY 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234532516]). Each ADS represents the right to receive one ordinary share. The price per ADS was determined based on an exchange rate of $1.1789 per euro. The gross proceeds to Celyad from the global offering are expected to be approximately $47.3million (approximately €40.1 million), before deducting underwriting commissions and estimated offering expenses.
In addition, Celyad has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 270,000 ordinary shares, which may be in the form of ADSs, on the same terms and conditions. The closing of the global offering is expected to occur on May 22, 2018, and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Celyad’s ADSs are currently listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "CYAD" and Celyad’s ordinary shares are currently listed on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Paris.

Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Bryan, Garnier & Co. are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Bank Degroof Petercam NV is acting as a co-manager for the private placement and LifeSci Capital LLC is acting as a co-manager for the global offering. Kempen & Co NV is Celyad’s advisor in connection with the offering.

The securities are being offered pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement that was previously filed with, and declared effective by, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A preliminary prospectus supplement dated May 15, 2018 relating to and describing the terms of the offering was filed with the SEC on May 16, 2018. The final prospectus supplement relating to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to these securities can also be obtained for free from Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York, 10152, at (800) 326-5897 or email a request to [email protected] or Bryan, Garnier & Co., Beaufort House, 15 Saint Botolph Street, London EC3A 7BB, United Kingdom, or by telephone at +44 20 7332 2500, or by email at [email protected].

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale is or would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On May 17, 2018 Triumvira Immunologics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing a novel platform for engineering T cells to attack cancers, today formally reported the appointments of Sabine Chlosta, MD, PhD, as Chief Medical Officer, and Jon Irvin as Vice President, Finance (Press release, Triumvira Immunologics, MAY 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234526750]).

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"We are delighted to expand our executive management team with Dr. Chlosta and Mr. Irvin," said Paul Lammers, MD, MSc., President and CEO of Triumvira Immunologics. "We look forward to leveraging Sabine’s extensive experience in immuno-oncology and clinical trial oversight as we work to develop and commercialize innovative therapies that will empower a patient’s own immune system to tackle serious and life-threatening diseases."

"In addition, Jon’s finance expertise in the pharmaceutical and technology industries will be a strong asset to Triumvira as we build our company to bring new treatments to patients in need," Lammers added.

Prior to Triumvira, Sabine Chlosta consulted for Aurora BioPharma, a start-up company developing CAR-T cells in solid tumors and was previously a Senior Medical Director at Merck & Co. where she played a key role in the development of its PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda in Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and oversaw trials in other indications, as well. Earlier in her career, Dr. Chlosta was a medical director at Glycomimetics where she helped launch the company’s first trial in cancer. She began her industry career as a Fellow in Oncology Drug Development at Novartis overseeing clinical pharmacology trials with a small molecule and helped launch their CAR-T lymphoma program with Kymriah. Dr. Chlosta is a board-certified pediatric hematologist oncologist out of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College.

"Triumvira is poised for growth and success in T cell therapy, and I am thrilled to be part of the team to take our innovative TAC technology into the clinic," said Dr. Chlosta.

Jon Irvin was the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance at Mirna Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotechnology company, before joining Triumvira. He also served in executive financial positions for Voxpath Networks, Inc., a telecommunications and intellectual property company, Reddwerks Corporation, a software company, Esoterix, Inc., a medical laboratory company, Topaz Technologies, a pharmaceutical software company, and BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company. Mr. Irvin previously worked with Ernst & Young’s life science practice in Palo Alto, California.

Irvin commented, "It’s exciting to be a part of this growing team as we develop our novel platform to treat patients’ unmet medical needs."

On May 17, 2018 BioClin Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage drug development company reported that data will be presented from its ongoing Phase 1b/2 study of B-701, a first-in-class anti-fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) monoclonal antibody, plus docetaxel for metastatic bladder cancer at a poster session at the 2018 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) meeting being held June 1-5, 2018 in Chicago, IL (Press release, BioClin Therapeutics, MAY 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234526785]).

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The details of the poster presentation are as follows:

[Abstract 4534]
FIERCE-21: Phase 1b/2 study of Docetaxel + B-701, a Selective Inhibitor of FGFR3, in Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma (mUCC).

Joaquim Bellmunt, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Session: Genitourinary (Nonprostate) Cancer
Poster Session Date/Time: Saturday, June 3, 2018, 8:00 – 11:30 a.m., CDT, Hall A

On May 16, 2018 Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing immuno-oncology therapies that teach the immune system to recognize and attack cancer, reported the appointment of John Celebi, M.B.A., as President and Chief Executive Officer (Press release, Sensei Biotherapeutics, MAY 16, 2018, View Source [SID1234526734]). He also joins the company’s board of directors. Mr. Celebi brings more than two decades of leadership experience with innovative and growing biotechnology companies, most recently in the field of cancer immunotherapies.

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The appointment of Mr. Celebi as President and Chief Executive Officer occurs at a time when Sensei is emerging with a focused immuno-oncology strategy, promising clinical data from the Phase I trial of its lead drug candidate SNS-301, and the proprietary SPIRIT drug development platform that is generating a pipeline of innovative immuno-oncology therapies. SNS-301 and the SPIRIT platform originated at Panacea Pharmaceuticals which has become Sensei Biotherapeutics. Sensei’s growing team of 14 employees is focused on its growth strategy in
immuno-oncology, operating out of its new 30,000 square foot laboratory and office space.

"I am delighted to join Sensei at this exciting time when we have the opportunity to apply our SPIRIT platform to develop immuno-oncology therapies with an innovative mechanism for detecting and eliminating cancer. We are encouraged by the clinical data that is emerging for our lead drug candidate, SNS-301, which we are advancing to lead the way in our strategy to build a precision pipeline of immuno-oncology therapies through companion diagnostics," said Mr. Celebi. "Sensei is well positioned to leverage our unique technology to develop novel
therapies with the potential to achieve our mission to have a positive and profound impact for
cancer patients."

"We welcome John’s strong experience and strategic business acumen to help build our vision and future for Sensei," said Hossein Ghanbari, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Board Chair of Sensei Biotherapeutics, and the company’s original co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.

"John’s oncology background and accomplished track record in biotech will serve Sensei exceptionally well as we move forward with our innovative immuno-oncology platform and advance new medicines for patients." Mr. Celebi has a distinguished track record for growing innovative entrepreneurial biotechnology companies, including in the field of oncology. Previously, Mr. Celebi served as the Chief Operating Officer of X4 Pharmaceuticals where he established and oversaw the company’s oncology business strategy. He also served as Chief Business Officer of Igenica Biotherapeutics, Inc., an immunotherapy company formed by The Column Group, 5AM Ventures, Orbimed and Third Rock Ventures, where he established key academic and industry relationships, including with MedImmune. He has extensive transactional and alliance management experience. Previously, he served as Vice President of Business Development, New Product Planning and Alliance Management at ArQule, Inc., where he played a central role
in the formation of alliances with Roche, Daiichi-Sankyo, and Kyowa Hakko Kirin. Mr. Celebi was one of the early employees at Tularik, Inc., where he conducted drug discovery and basic research for an anti-viral drug program. Mr. Celebi received an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.S. in Biophysics from the University of California, San Diego.

On May 17, 2018 Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) reported a poster presentation of additional prostate cancer data (Abstract #229675) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting to be held in Chicago, June 1-5, 2018 (Press release, Inovio, MAY 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234526752]). Previously reported data from a Phase 1b clinical trial demonstrated that Inovio’s cancer immunotherapy (INO-5150) slowed PSA rise in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. Additional analyses show clinically meaningful PSA stabilization post-administration of Inovio’s immunotherapy in patients with no documented disease progression during the study. Of note, this effect was also observed in the patients with the fastest PSA doubling at the time of study entry.

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The multi-center Phase 1b study enrolled 62 patients with biochemically relapsed prostate cancer following definitive local therapy. Under the trial design, eligible patients received INO-5150 (DNA plasmids encoding prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA)) alone or co-administered with INO-9012 (IL-12 plasmid) delivered intramuscularly followed by EP using the CELLECTRA-5P device. Of the 61 evaluable patients, 77% (47/61) demonstrated T cell immunogenicity, and 38% (19/50) exhibited CD38+, Perforin+CD8+ T cell responses. Additional analyses are underway to elucidate the correlation between immunologic efficacy and clinical benefit. For more information, please visit ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02514213).

Dr. J. Joseph Kim, Inovio’s President & CEO, said, "The additional results from our Phase 1b INO-5150 study continue to support our rationale that Inovio’s T cell generating INO-5150 could be an important agent as an immunotherapy as it provides strong and durable immune responses in a particularly difficult-to-treat prostate cancer patient population. We remain diligent on establishing an outside partnership to further advance INO-5150 and I look forward to sharing additional observations from our prostate cancer development program later this year."

INO-5150 was generated using Inovio’s proprietary ASPIRE technology process to enable significant production of engineered PSA and PSMA antigens with genetic sequences differentiated from native human PSA and PSMA sequences. This patented approach is designed to help the body’s immune system overcome its "self-tolerance" to prostate cancer cells and mount a strong targeted CD8+ killer T cell response to eliminate the cancerous cells displaying these antigens. PSMA is also one of 3 antigens comprising INO-5401, which is being tested in two separate Phase 1/2 trials as an immunotherapy to treat glioblastoma and metastatic bladder cancer in combination with Regeneron and Genentech/Roche’s checkpoint inhibitors, respectively.

Independently, as part of the active, ongoing collaboration, two additional posters are being presented at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) meeting that provide details on the ongoing trials of AstraZeneca/MedImmune’s MEDI0457 (formerly called INO-3112 which MedImmune in-licensed from Inovio) in abstract #TPS6093 and #5525.