On July 10, 2018 Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) reported that it will issue results for second quarter 2018 following the close of market on Monday, July 30, 2018 (Press release, Illumina, JUL 10, 2018, View Source [SID1234527637]).

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On the same day, at 2:00 pm Pacific Time (5:00 pm Eastern Time) Francis deSouza, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Sam Samad, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call with analysts, investors, and other interested parties to discuss financial and operating results.

Conference Call Details

The conference call will begin at 2:00 pm Pacific Time (5:00 pm Eastern Time) on Monday, July 30, 2018. Interested parties may access the live teleconference through the Investor Relations section of Illumina’s web site under the "company" tab at www.illumina.com. Alternatively, individuals can access the call by dialing 800-708-4539, or 1-847-619-6396 outside North America, both with passcode 47172781.

A replay of the conference call will be available from 4:30 pm Pacific Time (7:30 pm Eastern Time) on July 30, 2018 through August 6, 2018 by dialing 888-843-7419, or 1-630-652-3042 outside North America, both with passcode 47172781.

On July 10, 2018 Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SYRS), a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of medicines to control the expression of genes, reported that it will host a key opinion leader (KOL) breakfast symposium focused on the unmet need, treatment landscape and opportunity for new combination approaches in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) from 8:30-10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in New York City (Press release, Syros Pharmaceuticals, JUL 10, 2018, View Source [SID1234527702]). Syros is currently evaluating SY-1425, its first-in-class, selective retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) agonist, in a Phase 2 clinical trial in combination with standard-of-care and targeted therapies in genomically defined subsets of AML and MDS patients.

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The event will feature presentations from Rachel J. Cook, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Medicine and Site Director for Acute Leukemia at the Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University and Eytan M. Stein, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine; Leukemia Service, Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Additionally, members of Syros’ management will provide an overview of SY-1425 and review preclinical and clinical data supporting its combination strategy with SY-1425.

A live webcast of the event will be available on the Investors & Media section of the Syros website at www.syros.com. An archived replay of the webcast will be available for approximately 30 days following each presentation.

On July 9, 2018 Syntimmune, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing antibody therapeutics targeting FcRn, reported the appointment of biopharma executive Mario Saltarelli, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer (Press release, Syntimmune, JUL 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234527619]).

Dr. Saltarelli, who most recently served as senior vice president at Vertex, brings broad experience in discovery research, clinical development, pipeline strategy and global regulatory operations. Dr. Donald Johns, who has been acting chief medical officer, will become the executive vice president of medical and scientific affairs for Syntimmune."Mario’s deep expertise in drug development and strong leadership skills will be a tremendous asset to Syntimmune as we advance our pipeline of novel therapies targeting a broad range of autoimmune diseases," said Jean-Paul Kress, M.D., Syntimmune’s president and CEO. "We’re thrilled to have him on board to lead our medical organization. I’d also like to thank Don for his support as acting CMO, and I’m pleased that he’ll be continuing to help Syntimmune strengthen our medical and scientific leadership position."Dr. Saltarelli comes to Syntimmune from Vertex, where he managed clinical development projects across multiple therapeutic areas as senior vice president, early development and neurology. At Vertex, he supported the NDA/MAA preparation and filing of Symdeko (tezacaftor/ivacaftor), leading to FDA approval. He also advanced multiple early development assets. Prior to Vertex, Dr. Saltarelli served as chief medical officer of Annexion Biosciences and as senior vice president and chief science officer at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Saltarelli has also held leadership roles at Shire, Abbott (AbbVie) and Pfizer. Throughout his career, Dr. Saltarelli has worked on the full range of pharmaceutical research and development needs, including translational sciences, clinical strategy, pharmacology and medical affairs. Dr. Saltarelli earned both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neurosciences from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

"This is an exciting moment for Syntimmune, with multiple clinical trials underway and planned, and I am delighted to be able to contribute," Dr. Saltarelli said. "Syntimmune has a strong vision of leveraging its unique insights into FcRn, honed over 25 years of research, to develop novel therapies that will truly help patients. I’m honored to be part of the team."

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Dr. Johns is an accomplished drug development leader with extensive experience in drug discovery and development. He is a board-certified clinical neurologist and scientific leader with 25+ years of experience in rare and orphan diseases. Prior to joining Syntimmune, Dr. Johns held leadership positions at Biogen, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He contributed to three successful New Drug Applications (EXELON PATCH: Alzheimer Disease, GILENYA: Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, SPINRAZA: Spinal Muscular Atrophy). He is the founding principal of Axon Guidance LLC, a neuroscience-focused drug development consultancy. He has also held teaching positions at Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Johns received his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his Neurology residency and fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

On July 9, 2018 Teneobio, Inc., a next generation multi-specific antibody therapeutics company, announced today the initiation of a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to develop novel multi-specific antibodies for undisclosed oncology targets (Press release, TeneoBio, JUL 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234527703]). Under the terms of the agreement, Teneobio will generate product candidates using its proprietary UniRat transgenic human antibody ‘heavy-chain only’ rodent platform and its state-of-the-art sequence-based discovery engine, TeneoSeek. For resulting therapeutic candidates, Janssen would have exclusive global licensing rights to the antibodies for clinical development and commercialization. The deal was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC through its California Innovation Center.

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Teneobio Inc. will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive future research, development and commercial milestone payments per potential candidate. Teneobio would also receive royalties on world–wide net sales of each multi-specific product. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Roland Buelow, CEO of Teneobio, added, "We are excited to collaborate with Janssen and its oncology scientists to develop the next generation of therapeutic multispecific antibodies. Our UniRat-derived modular human variable heavy-chain antibody domains (UniDabs) enable the assembly of robust, optimized, multispecifics for T-cell redirection, as antibody drug-conjugates, and as extracellular domains of CAR T-cells to target cancers. Through Teneobio’s state-of-the-art discovery platforms, we look to discover and advance differentiated biotherapeutics to the clinic. Janssen‘s deep oncology expertise complements our interests and goals to address unmet medical needs with novel breakthrough therapeutics."

On July 9, 2018 Tocagen Inc. (Nasdaq: TOCA), a clinical-stage, cancer-selective gene therapy company, and Beijing Apollo Venus Biomedical Technology Limited, an affiliate of ApolloBio Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology (collectively, "ApolloBio"), reported the closing of an agreement providing ApolloBio with the exclusive right to develop and commercialize Toca 511 & Toca FC within the greater China region (Press release, Tocagen, JUL 9, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2357366 [SID1234527620]). ApolloBio has garnered all regulatory approvals for the agreement and paid Tocagen the upfront payment of $16 million.

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Under the terms of the agreement signed with ApolloBio in April 2018, Tocagen is also eligible to receive potential payments of $4 million in near-term development milestones, including a milestone for the completion of enrollment in the ongoing Phase 3 Toca 5 study. Tocagen will be eligible for additional future payments totaling up to $111 million upon meeting certain development and commercial milestones. In addition, the agreement provides for low double-digit tiered royalty payments based on net sales. ApolloBio will be responsible for all development and commercialization costs in the licensed territory.

"We’re pleased to have completed our strategic partnership agreement with ApolloBio, allowing us to expand the global commercial opportunity for Toca 511 & Toca FC amidst important recent developments in China to facilitate patient access to medical innovations," said Marty Duvall, chief executive officer of Tocagen. "This partnership also strengthens Tocagen’s cash position to fuel our pivotal Phase 3 Toca 5 trial and our pipeline-expanding R&D efforts."

"We are eager to collaborate closely with Tocagen and advance the development of Toca 511 & Toca FC in greater China," said Dr. Weiping Yang, chief executive officer of ApolloBio. "This partnership is an example of our commitment to bringing novel immuno-oncology treatments to the large patient population in China as soon as possible."

About Toca 511 & Toca FC

Tocagen’s lead product candidate is a two-part cancer-selective immunotherapy comprised of an investigational biologic, Toca 511 and an investigational small molecule, Toca FC. Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) is a retroviral replicating vector (RRV) that selectively infects cancer cells and delivers a gene for the enzyme, cytosine deaminase (CD). Through this targeted delivery, infected cancer cells carry the CD gene and produce CD. Toca FC is an orally administered, extended-release formulation of the prodrug, 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC), which is converted into an anti-cancer drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), when it encounters CD. 5-FU kills cancer cells and immune-suppressive myeloid cells in the tumor microenvironment resulting in anti-cancer immune activation and subsequent tumor killing.