On October 2, 2018 Kronos Bio, Inc. (Kronos), a Two River portfolio company, reported that it has been named by FierceBiotech as one of 2018’s Fierce 15 biotechnology companies, designating it as one of the most promising private biotechnology companies in the industry for its pursuit of novel therapies against some of the most important and intractable targets in cancer research (Press release, Kronos Bio, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529766]).

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"It is an honor to have Kronos named by FierceBiotech as one of their Fierce 15 biotechnology companies for 2018," said Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kronos. "Fierce adeptly describes our pursuit of targets many have viewed as ‘undruggable.’ We believe our small molecule microarray (SMM) technology will enable us to engage recalcitrant targets and develop innovative therapies for cancer and other life altering diseases."

The foundation of Kronos was built on over a decade of research into high-throughput screening strategies for chemical modulators of transcription factors and other recalcitrant targets in oncology. By combining small molecule microarrays with extensive know-how in biological assay development, Kronos’ technology platform enables high-throughput screens of chemical libraries against target proteins in a more physiologically relevant context. As a result, a single screening assay can identify compounds that bind or interfere with target protein activity directly, disrupt protein-protein or protein-DNA interactions, or indirectly modulate target protein activity by binding to co-factors or
other protein complex members. This approach is ideally suited for rapid discovery of unique ligands that can be utilized in the generation of novel modulators or degraders of historically challenging targets such as transcription factors.

The Fierce 15 celebrates the spirit of being "fierce" – championing innovation and creativity, even in the face of intense competition. This is FierceBiotech’s 16th annual Fierce 15 selection. An internationally recognized daily report reaching a network of over 285,000 biotech and pharma industry professionals, FierceBiotech provides subscribers with an authoritative analysis of the day’s top stories. Every year FierceBiotech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and a competitive market position

On October 2, 2018 Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYBX), a clinical stage company applying synthetic biology to probiotics to develop novel, living medicines, reported the appointment of Aoife Brennan, M.B., B.Ch., as president and chief executive officer of Synlogic, effective immediately (Press release, Synlogic, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234530532]). Dr. Brennan joined Synlogic as chief medical officer in 2016 and has served as interim president and chief executive officer since May 2018.

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"After conducting a thorough search process, it was clear to the board of directors that Aoife is the right person to lead Synlogic at this time in the company’s evolution," said Peter Barrett, chairman of Synlogic’s board of directors. "Aoife stepped into the interim role and rapidly demonstrated her effectiveness. Her broad experience across multiple stages of drug development and therapeutic areas, her demonstrated leadership abilities, and her ambitious vision for Synlogic, make her uniquely qualified for the job. We are confident that under her leadership, Synlogic will be well-positioned to deliver Synthetic Biotic medicines to patients."

"I appreciate the confidence and support of the board of directors and am thrilled to be selected to lead Synlogic as we pioneer the development of a completely new class of living medicines," said Dr. Brennan. "We have made great progress to date, advancing two Synthetic BioticTM programs into the clinic. I look forward to continuing to execute on our plans for the clinical development of our lead candidates while capitalizing on the broad applicability and potential of our novel platform to build a pipeline of therapies for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases."

Prior to joining Synlogic, Dr. Brennan spent six years at Biogen in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as vice president and head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit, which included programs ranging from pre-clinical to commercial. She has also led programs across multiple therapeutic areas including the late-phase development of nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy and treatments for Hemophilia B and Hemophilia A, ALPROLIX and ELOCTATE. Earlier, Dr. Brennan was director of clinical development at Tolerx, a start-up biotech company focused on immunotherapy for Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Brennan holds a medical degree from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and completed her post-graduate training in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism at the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland. Additionally, she completed post-doctoral training in clinical research and metabolism at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Clinical Science Program.

On October 2, 2018 Kite, a Gilead Company (Nasdaq: GILD), and HiFiBiO Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery of therapeutic antibodies through single B cell screening and analysis, reported the companies have entered into a research collaboration and license agreement to develop technology supporting the discovery of neoantigen-reactive T cell receptors (TCRs) for the potential treatment of various cancers, including solid tumors (Press release, Kite Pharma, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234537506]).

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Kite and HiFiBiO intend to adapt HiFiBiO’s proprietary single cell technology platform to create a high throughput approach that will potentially allow for the in-depth screening of TCR repertoires from patient samples to identify shared antigen and neoantigen TCRs for use in adoptive cellular therapies. Neoantigens arise from tumor-specific mutations that are unique to each patient’s cancer, offering the potential for more targeted antitumor activity.

Under the terms of the agreement, HiFiBiO will receive a $10 million upfront payment and will be eligible for additional payments based on the achievement of certain research milestones. Kite will have an exclusive option to license HiFiBiO’s platform to screen T cell repertoires and to identify TCRs for use in TCR engineered T cell therapies with a corresponding payment to HiFiBiO.

"Neoantigen-based cell therapy is a very exciting, yet complex, area of research that has the potential to transform the way we treat many solid tumors," said Alessandro Riva, MD, Gilead’s Executive Vice President, Oncology Therapeutics & Head, Cell Therapy. "We are excited about this collaboration with HiFiBiO, which will build upon our existing capabilities focused on discovering cell therapies which target patient-specific tumor neoantigens."

"Kite is a recognized leader in the cell therapy field," said Liang Schweizer, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, HiFiBiO Therapeutics. "We are proud that our proprietary single cell technology platform, which is utilized to support the rapid progression of our novel antibody therapeutics pipeline, will now also be implemented by Kite for the development of novel cell therapies targeting neoantigens."

On October 2, 2018 NantKwest (Nasdaq:NK), a leading, clinical-stage natural killer cell based therapeutics company, reported that the company will be presenting at the upcoming Cantor Global Healthcare Conference onTuesday, October 2nd in New York City During the conference, company management will be presenting a corporate overview, as well as conducting one-on-one meetings to provide a corporate update, as well as review R&D and clinical activities (Press release, NantKwest, OCT 2, 2018, http://ir.nantkwest.com/news-releases/news-release-details/nantkwest-present-2018-cantor-global-healthcare-conference?field_nir_news_date_value[min]=2018 [SID1234529706]).

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Conference Details:

Event: Cantor Global Healthcare Conference
Date/Time: Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at 4:00pm
Location: New York, NY

On October 2, 2018 AskAt Inc. (AskAt) (Headquarters: Nagoya, Japan, CEO: Akihiro Furuta) reported that Arrys Therapeutics, Inc. (Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts), which licensed AAT-007 in immuno-oncology from AskAt in December 2017, has initiated a clinical study with AAT-007 (grapiprant) (ARY-007) in combination with pembrolizumab (anti PD-1 antibody, KEYTRUDA) (Press release, AskAt, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234535044]).

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The study is an Open-label, Single-arm, Phase 1b clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of grapiprant in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced or progressive Microsatellite Stable (MSS) Colorectal Cancer (CRC).

Arrys is the sponsor of the study, in collaboration with Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc.