On April 9, 2018 Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing tumor-targeted and immuno-oncology therapies based on its pioneering research and development in cancer epigenetics, reported a $100 million financing (Press release, Constellation Pharmaceuticals, APR 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234525214]). New investors include Cormorant Asset Management, Deerfield Management, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Hillhouse Capital, NS Investment, OrbiMed, Sirona Capital, and Venrock Healthcare Partners. Current investors, including The Column Group, Third Rock Ventures, Venrock, SROne, University of California Investment Office, Topspin Partners, and Casdin Capital, also participated in the financing.

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"We are thrilled to welcome this new group of high-quality investors, and we are grateful for the continued support from our existing investors. Their strategic guidance and financial support will be instrumental to help accomplish our goal of improving outcomes for cancer patients," said Jigar Raythatha, president and chief executive officer of Constellation Pharmaceuticals. "This financing gives us additional flexibility and runway to pursue the clinical development of CPI-1205 and CPI-0610, our lead product candidates, as well as advance other novel molecules from our cancer epigenetics platform into development."

The company plans to utilize the proceeds of this financing to advance multiple clinical trials across its portfolio. Specifically, the ongoing ProSTAR and ORIOn-E trials are designed to demonstrate the potential for CPI-1205 to enhance the effectiveness of current-generation androgen inhibitors in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and cancer immunotherapies in other solid tumors, respectively. The company also plans to progress CPI-0610, a clinical-stage candidate, as a treatment for myelofibrosis either as a monotherapy or in combination with a JAK inhibitor.

Additionally, Constellation Pharmaceuticals plans to advance its second-generation EZH2 program into the clinic and identify more experimental therapies derived from its epigenetics discovery platform.

On April 9, 2018 Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (Allogene) reported the completion of the previously announced transaction between Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Allogene for Pfizer’s portfolio of assets related to allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, an investigational immune cell therapy approach to treating cancer (Press release, Cellectis, APR 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234525478]).

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On April 3, 2018, Allogene and Pfizer announced that the companies had entered into a definitive asset contribution agreement for Pfizer’s allogeneic CAR T portfolio. As a result of the completed agreement, Allogene has received from Pfizer the rights to 16 preclinical CAR T assets licensed from Cellectis and Servier and one clinical asset licensed from Servier, UCART19, an allogeneic CAR T therapy that is being developed for treatment of CD19-­‐ expressing hematological malignancies. In partnership with Servier, UCART19 is initially being developed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and is currently in Phase I. UCART19 utilizes TALEN gene editing technology pioneered and owned by Cellectis.

With the agreement completed, Allogene is well-­‐positioned to rapidly advance the portfolio of CAR T assets contributed by Pfizer into potential innovative new therapies, and ultimately to reach patients in need more quickly. "The completion of our agreement with Pfizer represents a bold undertaking by leaders in the field to expedite the development of the next wave of cancer immunotherapies," said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Allogene.

Pfizer will continue to participate financially in the CAR T portfolio’s development through a 25 percent ownership stake in Allogene. Prior to the agreement completion, Gilead Sciences joined Allogene’s premier Series A investment consortium that already included TPG, Vida Ventures, BellCo Capital, the University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer, and Pfizer, among others.

Centerview Partners acted as financial advisor to Pfizer, with Ropes & Gray LLP acting as its legal advisor. Cooley LLP served as legal counsel to Allogene, Vida Venture and TPG. Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP also served as legal counsel to TPG.

On April 9, 2018 Genocea Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNCA), a biopharmaceutical company developing neoantigen cancer vaccines, reported upcoming presentations at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) (AACR 2018), taking place April 14-18, 2018 in Chicago, IL (Press release, Genocea Biosciences, APR 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234525216]).

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Poster 15: "Neoantigen identification using the ATLAS T cell profiling platform highlights the need to empirically define neoantigens"
Vaccines Session 1, Immunology Track
Sunday, April 15, 2018 from 1 pm to 5 pm CDT
Link to abstract

Poster 5718: "Ex vivo ATLAS-identification of neoantigens for personalized cancer immunotherapy in mouse melanoma"
Neoantigens in Cancer Session, Immunology Track
Wednesday, April 18, 2018 from 8 am to 12 pm CDT

On April 9, 2018 Horizon Pharma plc (Nasdaq:HZNP) reported that its first-quarter financial results will be released on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 (Press release, Horizon Pharma, APR 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234525217]). Following the announcement, Horizon’s management will host a live webcast at 8 a.m. Eastern Time to review the Company’s financial and operating results.

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The live webcast and replay may be accessed at View Source Please connect to the Company’s website at least 15 minutes before the live webcast to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be needed to access the webcast.

On April 9, 2018 MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX; OTC: MPSYY) reported that it has commenced an initial public offering in the United States of up to 8,300,000 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form F-1, as amended, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Press release, MorphoSys, APR 9, 2018, View Source [SID1234556337]). Furthermore, MorphoSys expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase additional ADSs of up to 15% of the total number of ADSs placed in the offering (i.e. up to 1,245,000 additional ADSs). Each ADS will represent 1/4 of a MorphoSys ordinary share. The new ordinary shares underlying the ADSs will be issued from MorphoSys’s authorized capital 2017-II, excluding pre-emptive rights of existing shareholders and representing up to 8.1% (including the underwriters’ option to purchase additional ADSs) of the registered share capital of MorphoSys prior to the consummation of the offering.

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The final price of the offered ADSs will be determined largely on the basis of the XETRA closing price of MorphoSys’s shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on the pricing date (expected for the week of April 16, 2018) translated into U.S. dollars at the then prevailing exchange rate and using an ADS to share ratio of four to one. Application has been made to list the ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Market in the United States under the ticker symbol "MOR".

Within the United States of America, the securities referred to in this release are to be offered only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the preliminary prospectus can be obtained from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 1-212-902-9316 or by e-mailing [email protected]; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, telephone: 1-866-803-9204; Leerink Partners LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, by telephone at 1-800-808-7525, ext. 6132, or by e-mailing [email protected].

A Registration Statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. The securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the Registration Statement becomes effective.