On April 18, 2018 Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE AMERICAN:ATNM) ("Actinium" or "the Company"), reported that it has expanded its clinical development team with hiring of Vijay Reddy, M.D., Ph.D. as Vice President, Clinical Development, who will focus on Actinium’s clinical programs centered on targeted myeloablation (Press release, Actinium Pharmaceuticals, APR 18, 2018, View Source [SID1234525495]). Actinium is differentiating itself by developing the only multi-disease, multi-target pipeline of drug candidates focused on improving bone marrow transplant access and outcomes through improved myeloablation which includes the Company’s lead program, Iomab-B, that is being studied in the Pivotal Phase 3 SIERRA study and its planned Phase 2 Actimab-MDS trial.

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Dr. Mark Berger, Actinium’s Chief Medical Officer said, "I am incredibly excited to welcome Dr. Reddy, Dr. Safavi and Ms. McNamara to Actinium’s clinical development team. Vijay brings extensive clinical experience in the field of bone marrow transplant along with hematology focused drug development experience. His deep domain expertise and knowledge will allow us to capitalize on the many opportunities in myeloablation, for which our drug candidates and Actinium Warhead Enabling technology are ideally suited. Farnoush has a strong background in clinical trial execution and a proven ability to drive clinical trial enrollment, which will be of great benefit as we work to complete the SIERRA trial and launch new trials such as Actimab-MDS. Kathleen possesses a strong clinical nursing background, drug development experience and significant experience in the administration of complex therapies that will be well received by the SIERRA sites she supports. I am confident that collectively and individually, Dr. Reddy, Dr. Safavi and Ms. McNamara will make invaluable contributions that will allow us to continue to build on Actinium’s leadership position in myeloablation."

Dr. Reddy said, "As a transplant physician I am keenly aware of Iomab-B and its value proposition for patients, so it is incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to help bring this important targeted therapy against acute myeloid leukemia to patients with a clear need that can benefit from a BM. Actinium has done a fantastic job in the execution of the SIERRA trial thus far, as evidenced by participation of many of the leading BMT centers. In addition, expansion of the myeloablation programs with the planned Actimab-MDS trial represents a compelling opportunity. I am incredibly excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for Actinium and look forward to working with Dr. Berger and my new colleagues to build the leading myeloablation company."

Sandesh Seth, Actinium’s Chairman and CEO said, "Actinium is committed to being the leading company focused on myeloablation that improves access to and outcomes from potentially lifesaving bone marrow transplants. What started as a single asset in Iomab-B has evolved into a myeloablation franchise with the only multi-disease multitarget pipeline in myeloablation. The addition of Dr. Reddy, Dr. Safavi and Ms. McNamara will allow us to execute on the critical milestones for our pivotal Phase 3 trial for Iomab-B, efficiently launch our planned Phase 2 Actimab-MDS trial and capitalize on other opportunities in the field. We are incredibly excited for the talent we have assembled within Actinium and are motivated to make great advances with our drug candidates and technologies to better outcomes for patients."

Dr. Reddy has specialized in hematologic oncology with a Ph.D. in cancer immunology who focused his clinical practice in the area of bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Reddy was attending physician at Shands Hospital, University of Florida, and the Medical Director for adult BMT program in Orlando, prior to his starting in industry. He has served as inspector for the Foundation of Accreditation of Cellular Therapies (FACT). He is currently an Editorial Board Member for Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and has authored over 50 publications in hematology/oncology and BMT journals.

Dr. Reddy joins Actinium from Pharmacyclics LLC, an Abbvie company, where he was Senior Medical Director, Oncology Medical Affairs. In this role, Dr. Reddy worked on the Ibrutinib program in CLL, MCL and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD), along with additional indications. Previously, he worked at Medimmune (AstraZeneca) as Medical Director, Early clinical development, Immuno-Oncology R&D. Prior to Medimmune, Dr. Reddy worked at Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson company as Medical Director, Oncology. Prior to his experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Reddy was Professor of Medicine at the University of Central Florida. As a practicing clinician, Dr. Reddy participated in several clinical trials for BMT as an investigator, physician advisor or advisory board member.

Dr. Reddy received his M.B., B.S. (M.D. equivalent) from the Madras Medical College in India and his Ph.D. in cancer immunology from Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. He completed fellowships in hematology at The Princess Margaret Hospital and in Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of Toronto. He also was a Research Associate at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Safavi joined Actinium from Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where she focused on oncology clinical studies. Prior to Progenics, Dr. Safavi had clinical roles of increasing responsibility at Stealth Bio Therapeutics, Verastem Inc. and New England Research Institute, Inc. Before her work in industry, Dr. Safavi supported academic clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital, Emory University, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Montefiore Medical Center – Albert Einstein School of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Safavi received her M.D. from Xavier University School of Medicine, West Indies, Master of Health Services Administration from St. Joseph’s College of Maine and her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Houston.

Kathleen McNamara is a Registered Nurse and Oncology Certified Nurse with significant clinical experience in the care of oncology patients. Most recently, Ms. McNamara was the Nurse Manager at a large infusion center where she oversaw patient care and trained the nursing staff in oncology therapy administration. Kathleen gained valuable experience in drug developing where she worked at Celgene Corporation as a Clinical Research Scientist on leukemia focused clinical trials and at Quintiles as an Oncology Nurse Educator. The majority of Kathleen’s career has been focused on the clinical care of oncology patients where she gained valuable experience in the administration of complex oncology therapies including biologics, bone marrow transplants and clinical trials. In addition, Kathleen has successfully managed, led and helped educate nursing staffs in a number of hospitals and infusion centers.

Kathleen earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Niagara University and her Master of Arts degree in Education from Long Island University. She is a Registered Nurse with a certificate in Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Ambulatory Pediatrics from the State University of New York.

On April 18, 2018 Verseon, a technology-based pharmaceutical company employing a computer-driven platform to develop a diverse drug pipeline, reported new preclinical data on its anticancer drug candidates at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual meeting yesterday (Press release, Verseon, APR 18, 2018, View Source [SID1234525513]). Dr. Mohan Sivaraja, Associate Director of Discovery Biology, presented studies showing that Verseon’s drug candidates are potent against a range of cancer cell lines, including those that exhibit multidrug resistance.

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While chemotherapy remains the first line of treatment against most cancers, many tumors develop resistance to chemotherapy agents over time, limiting their efficacy. A common way for cancer cells to render drugs ineffective is by triggering an overproduction of transport proteins (efflux pumps) that expel many chemicals, including chemotherapeutics. In addition, cells can become resistant to tubulin-targeting chemotherapy drugs by overexpression of β-III tubulin.

The preclinical studies presented at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) conference demonstrate that Verseon’s drug candidates target cancer cells by inhibiting the protein tubulin, which leads to cell cycle arrest. While marketed chemotherapies such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and vincristine show up to 2,000-fold reduced potency in cell lines overexpressing the major MDR1, MRP1, and BCRP efflux pumps, Verseon’s drug candidates are only weakly affected by these transporters (typically less than 2-fold). The Company’s drug candidates also appear unaffected by the overexpression of β-III tubulin. Dr. Sivaraja also presented pharmacokinetic data for one of Verseon’s tubulin inhibitors, which shows good exposure suitable for infusion. The candidate was also well tolerated in a preclinical repeat-dosing study.

"We are very encouraged by these preclinical results," said Dr. Sivaraja. "Multidrug resistance is one of the main reasons why chemotherapies fail. The insensitivity of our compounds to the major transporters and to the overexpression of β-III tubulin may help us address the need for a more effective, precise therapy."

About Verseon’s oncology program
Verseon plans to use its promising class of tubulin inhibitors to target multidrug resistant cancers. Several drug candidates show potency in functional and cellular assays. Furthermore, Verseon’s inhibitors maintain their efficacy across multiple chemotherapy-resistant cancer cell lines and are either unaffected or only weakly affected by the overexpression of common transporters, a primary source of multidrug resistance.

On April 17, 2018 Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 4519) reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its anti-coagulation factor IXa/X humanized bispecific monoclonal antibody / coagulation factor VIII substitute, "HEMLIBRA" [US generic name: emicizumab-kxwh] for people with hemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors (Press release, Chugai, APR 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234525404]). Development and distribution of the drug in the US is conducted by Genentech, a member of Roche Group.

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"We are thrilled that HEMLIBRA has been granted its second Breakthrough Therapy Designation," said Chugai’s Executive Vice President, Co-Head of Project & Lifecycle Management Unit, Dr. Yasushi Ito. "This will allow us to expedite potential delivery of this new therapy we created to people with hemophilia A without inhibitors in the US following the previous designation for inhibitors. We continue to work closely with Genentech to enable this line extension as soon as possible."

This designation is based on the global phase III HAVEN 3 (NCT02847637) study evaluating HEMLIBRA subcutaneous injection once a week and once every two weeks in people with hemophilia A (12 years of age or older) without inhibitors to factor VIII.

Hemophilia A is a disease presenting repeated severe bleeding symptoms. In this disease, the blood coagulation reaction does not proceed normally due to the deficiency or functional disorder of coagulation factor VIII. For people with hemophilia A without inhibitors, regular factor VIII replacement therapy has been widely used to prevent bleeding. HEMLIBRA is a bispecific monoclonal antibody, which was developed using Chugai’s proprietary antibody engineering technologies. The drug is designed to bind factor IXa and factor X. In doing so, HEMLIBRA provides the cofactor function of factor VIII in people with hemophilia A, who either lack or have impaired coagulation function of factor VIII1, 2). In the HAVEN 3 study, a statistically significant reduction in the frequency of bleeding episodes was observed with HEMLIBRA. With the convenience of subcutaneous administration and the lower frequency of administration, it is expected to be a new treatment option for hemophilia A.
This is the sixth Breakthrough Therapy Designation received for three drugs created by Chugai: ALECENSA (ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer with disease progression on crizotinib, and first line treatment for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer), ACTEMRA (systemic sclerosis and giant cell arteritis), and HEMLIBRA (prophylactic treatment for patients 12 years or older with hemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors).

Trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.
References
Kitazawa, et al. Nature Medicine 2012; 18(10): 1570
Sampei, et al. PLoS ONE 2013; 8: e57479
About Breakthrough Therapy
Breakthrough Therapy Designation was adopted as part of the FDA Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) enacted in July 2012 aiming at expediting the development and review of drugs for the treatment of severe or life-threatening diseases or symptoms. In order to grant Breakthrough Therapy Designation, preliminary clinical evidence is required demonstrating that the drug may have substantial improvement on at least one clinically significant endpoint over existing therapies. Breakthrough Therapy Designation includes the features of a Fast Track designation, with the addition of intensive guidance on efficient drug development as well organizational commitment from FDA.
Main approval status of the drug

US: In November 2017, the drug (US product name: HEMLIBRA; Genentech) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was marketed for "routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adult and pediatric patients with hemophilia A (congenital factor VIII deficiency) with factor VIII inhibitors."

EU: In Europe, the drug (EU product name: HEMLIBRA; Roche) obtained regulatory approval from the European Commission and was marketed for routine prophylaxis of bleeding episodes in people with hemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors in February 2018.
Japan: The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has approved HEMLIBRA for routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in patients with congenital factor VIII deficiency (hemophilia A) with factor VIII inhibitors in March 2018.
About the results of HAVEN 3 study
Press release issued on November 20, 2017
View Source

On April 17, 2018 Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN), a leader in molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine, reported that it will hold its fiscal third-quarter 2018 sales and earnings conference call with investors and analysts at 7:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 8, 2018 (Press release, Myriad Genetics, APR 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234525424]). During the call, Mark C. Capone, president and CEO and Bryan Riggsbee, CFO, will provide an overview of Myriad’s financial performance for the fiscal third-quarter and provide a business update. Additionally, Dr. Bryan Dechairo, executive vice president of Clinical Research, will discuss the data from the GeneSight randomized controlled trial. The clinical study data will first be presented as a late breaking poster in the exhibit hall at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting on Monday, May 7, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. ET, and will be presented by the study principal investigator the same day at a satellite symposium at 6:30 p.m. ET at Hudson Mercantile at 500 W. 36th Street in New York City.

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To listen to the earnings call, interested parties in the United States may dial 800-699-0623 or +1 303-223-4362 for international callers. All callers will be asked to reference reservation number 21887258. The conference call also will be available through a live webcast and a slide presentation pertaining to the earnings call will also be available under the investor section of our website at www.myriad.com. A replay of the call will be available two hours after the end of the call for seven days and may be accessed by dialing 800-633-8284 within the United States or +1 402-977-9140 for international callers and entering reservation number 21887258.

On April 17, 2018 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS: SPPI), a biotechnology Company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in Hematology and Oncology, reported a poster presentation of data from preclinical and clinical studies evaluating poziotinib in HER2 exon 20 mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and summarizing a dataset of the prevalence of HER2 exon 20 across solid tumors by scientists from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) which is taking place in Chicago, Illinois, April 14-18, 2018 (Press release, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, APR 17, 2018, View Source [SID1234525442]).

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"We are excited to see the first presentation of data for poziotinib in HER2 exon 20 mutations in NSCLC," said Joe Turgeon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. "These data build upon previous results from poziotinib studies and indicate that this drug could be effective in treating both EGFR and HER2 exon 20 mutations. Furthermore, new data from MD Anderson reveal that these mutations are found across a variety of solid tumors and there is strong rationale for evaluating poziotinib in a basket study."
"The pre-clinical and early clinical activity of poziotinib in EGFR and HER2 exon 20 mutant NSCLC suggests poziotinib could be a promising agent for the numerous cancer types driven by HER2 exon 20 mutations," said Jacqulyne Robichaux, Ph.D, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "We have previously shown that poziotinib is an effective inhibitor of EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations in vitro and in vivo. These data show that poziotinib overcomes de novo resistance of HER2 exon 20 mutations in NSCLC and other cancers. Further evaluation of poziotinib in solid tumors is warranted."

About Poziotinib
Poziotinib is a novel, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (EGFR TKI) that inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of EGFR as well as HER2 and HER4. Importantly this, in turn, leads to the inhibition of the proliferation of tumor cells that overexpress these receptors. Mutations or overexpression/amplification of EGFR family receptors have been associated with a number of different cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer, and gastric cancer. Spectrum received exclusive license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize worldwide excluding Korea and China from Hanmi Pharmaceuticals. Poziotinib is currently being investigated by Spectrum and Hanmi in several mid-stage trials in multiple solid tumor indications.