On October 2, 2018 SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:SLS) ("SELLAS" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapies for a broad range of cancer indications, reported that data from the Phase 2b trial of nelipepimut-S (NeuVax) in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) for the treatment of women with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) will be presented in a poster presentation at the 2018 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, taking place November 9-11, 2018 in Washington, D.C (Press release, Sellas Life Sciences, OCT 2, 2018, View Source;Herceptin-at-the-2018-Society-for-Immunotherapy-of-Cancer-SITC-Annual-Meeting/default.aspx [SID1234529724]).

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Details for the presentation are as follows:

Title: Correlation between response and HLA type in a randomized phase IIb trial of NeuVax + trastuzumab in HER2 low-expressing breast cancer patients to prevent recurrence
Poster Hall Location: Hall E
Poster Hall Hours: Friday, November 9 from 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET;
Saturday, November 10 from 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET
Abstract ID: 11073
SELLAS previously announced that the full dataset from the Phase 2b trial of nelipepimut-S (NeuVax) in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) will be presented in an oral presentation at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology October 19-23 in Munich, Germany.

On October 2, 2018 Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) (TSX: ONC), currently developing pelareorep, an intravenously delivered immuno-oncolytic virus turning cold tumors hot, reported publication of important research in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Immunology Research (Press release, Oncolytics Biotech, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234530640]). The research showed that pelareorep, a systemically delivered oncolytic reovirus, can destroy tumor cells via a monocyte-mediated process even after the virions have been exposed to antibodies designed to neutralize the reovirus.

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"For some time there have been two schools of thought regarding oncolytic viruses: those that believe intratumoral delivery is necessary for treatment due to potential neutralization of the virus in the bloodstream and those that believe intravenous delivery is also an efficacious means of treatment with a virus," said Dr. Matt Coffey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oncolytics Biotech. "This key publication validates the systemic delivery of oncolytic viruses by proving that oncolytic viruses delivered intravenously can be effective even in the presence of neutralizing antibodies. It sends a message to everyone in the oncology community that systemic delivery of this drug class is not only viable, but may increase its effectiveness in the presence of neutralizing antibodies."

The study was conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Ilett and Dr. Rob Berkeley from the University of Leeds and Professor Alan Melcher from The Institute of Cancer Research, London. Oncolytics Biotech donated pelareorep for research.

In the study, researchers treated pelareorep with neutralizing antibodies derived from patients undergoing virus therapy and added the antibody-coated virions to melanoma cells, which resulted in no killing of melanoma cells. However, addition of monocytes to the culture led to reactivation of the neutralized virus particles, allowing them to effectively target and destroy the melanoma cells. Three different viruses that are currently being evaluated in clinical trials were tested in the study, with neutralized forms of two of the three viruses being reactivated by monocytes, a finding with immediate clinical significance.

"This discovery suggests that cancer treatments using systemic virus therapy could be significantly expanded in the future, as we previously, but erroneously, believed that follow-up doses were useless once the body had produced antibodies against the virus," said Dr. Ilett.

About Pelareorep
Pelareorep is a non-pathogenic, proprietary isolate of the unmodified reovirus: a first-in-class intravenously delivered immuno-oncolytic virus for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. The compound induces selective tumor lysis and promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses to treat a variety of cancers.

On October 2, 2018 Gossamer Bio, Inc. ("Gossamer Bio") 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 (Press release, Gossamer Bio, OCT 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234529746]).

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"We are honored to be selected as a Fierce 15 company for 2018," said Sheila Gujrathi, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gossamer Bio. "We have an exciting portfolio of innovative clinical and research stage programs across multiple indications that leverage our deep mechanistic understanding of immunobiology. With a focus on immunology, inflammation and immuno-oncology, our world-class team is committed to applying our collective expertise in discovery and development to bring forth important new medicines to patients who are suffering."

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 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.