On January 29, 2018 Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) reported that it will report its fourth quarter and full year 2017 financial results on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, after the close of the U.S. financial markets (Press release, Amgen, JAN 29, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2328941 [SID1234523610]). The announcement will be followed by a conference call with the investment community at 2 p.m. PT. Participating in the call from Amgen will be Robert A. Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer, and other members of Amgen’s senior management team.

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Live audio of the conference call will be simultaneously broadcast over the internet and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public.

The webcast, as with other selected presentations regarding developments in Amgen’s business given by management at certain investor and medical conferences, can be found on Amgen’s website, www.amgen.com, under Investors. Information regarding presentation times, webcast availability and webcast links are noted on Amgen’s Investor Relations Events Calendar. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.

On January 29, 2018 Lee’s Pharm and Sorrento Therapeutics reported that the Chinese authorities have approved China Oncology Focus Limited (COF, an affiliate of Lee’s Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited, Hong Kong Stock Symbol: 0950.HK) to proceed with the clinical trials for ZKAB001, an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody exclusively licensed to COF for Greater China territories, by Sorrento Therapeutics (Press release, Sorrento Therapeutics, JAN 29, 2018, View Source [SID1234532252]).

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The investigation sites will be:

Beijing Cancer Hospital
The Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Wuhan Union Hospital
Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital
The trials will be anticipated to use a 3+3 design with 5mg/kg, 10mg/kg and 15mg/kg dosing regimens. Once the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) has been established, additional patients are expected to be recruited in an expanded Phase 1 protocol. Clinical data from these studies could be available by the end of the year 2019, and positive results could lead to conditional approval of the antibody prior to a confirmatory Phase 3 study.

"We are proud to announce the acceptance of the IND for our anti-PD-L1 antibody ZKAB001. It’s further evidence for COF continued commitment to addressing high unmet oncology needs by bringing new effective immuno-oncology therapies to the Chinese market. Throughout the IND-enabling activities and the extensive IND review process by the Chinese FDA, the COF team has worked closely and efficiently with Sorrento colleagues. In the landscape of anti-PD-L1 therapies in China, we believe our program is part of the first wave of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Encouraged by our impressive preclinical data, we are excited about evaluating our immunotherapy and addressing unmet medical needs of cancer patients in the Greater China region. Based on this highly productive first joint project, we look forward to potentially expanding our partnership with Sorrento," said Dr. Xiaoyi (Benjamin) Li, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of COF.

"We believe COF’s progress in the development of cancer therapeutics for the Greater China market utilizing our G-MAB library of fully human antibodies is a testimony of the value of Sorrento’s comprehensive portfolio of immuno-oncology platform technologies and products acquired and developed over the years," stated Dr. Henry Ji, Chairman and CEO. "Although our own internal resources are currently focused on the development of CAR-T platforms and programs, we think we have shown success in collaborations and out-licensing of other therapeutic assets to a number of strategic partners. COF’s success in developing ZKAB001 could lead to milestone and royalty payments to Sorrento."

About ZKAB001 (anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody)

ZKAB001 is a fully human anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), an immune checkpoint inhibitor. The mAb blocks the interaction of PD-L1 protein with its receptor PD-1, then suppressing the inhibition of PD-1/PDL1 signal to T cells and enhancing the killing effect of T cells on tumors. This antibody also kills cancer cells through traditional antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) recruiting Natural Killer (NK) cells and other effector cells against the tumor potentially further strengthening the anti-tumor effect of the antibody. It was licensed from Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (SRNE) to COF in Q4 2014.

On January 29, 2018 Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) reported that Sotirios
G. Stergiopoulos, MD, has been appointed as Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Ipsen, JAN 29, 2018, View Source [SID1234523600]).

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Dr Stergiopoulos joined Ipsen in January 2017 as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Medical Affairs (GMA) and will retain this
position in addition to the role as the new Chief Medical Officer within the company. Dr Stergiopoulos reports to Alexandre Lebeaut, MD, Executive Vice-President R&D and Chief Scientific Officer.

Dr Lebeaut commented, "Sotirios has extensive experience in directing global medical affairs
strategies and a strong expertise in oncology drug development that includes chemotherapy,
immunology drugs and targeted agents across various tumor indications. We are delighted to appoint
him to an expanded role through which he will make the voice of the patient heard at the highest levels
of the organization and represent the company externally as its primary medical representative."

Prior to joining Ipsen, Sotirios was Vice President, Head of Global Medical Affairs Oncology at Baxalta (now Shire, Cambridge, MA), Executive Medical Director Oncology US Medical Affairs at Celgene Corporation (Summit, NJ), Senior Global Brand Medical Director Oncology at Novartis Pharmaceuticals (East Hanover, NJ) and Director Medical Affairs Oncology at Bayer Healthcare
(Montville, NJ).

Dr. Stergiopoulos added, "I am delighted to take on this leading role at Ipsen. This is an exciting
time for Ipsen with significant growth and evolution. Together with our experienced leadership team,
I look forward to helping our company continue to bring innovative new medicines to our patients."

Dr. Stergiopoulos is a physician executive with significant experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech industry, especially in Oncology. He has held appointments as an Attending Physician and trainee in institutions such as Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health. He holds a Masters in Biotechnology Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (MBEE) from The Johns Hopkins University and a Medical Degree from Poznan University of Medical
Sciences (Poland). Sotirios is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the New York Academy of Medicine as well as the Royal Society of Medicine (UK). He is also a Member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) and of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper).
In October 2017 Dr. Stergiopoulos was appointed President of the Board of Governors for the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA); a body whose mission is to establish, certify, and maintain the competencies of qualified medical and scientific professionals who have a focus in Medical Affairs within the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries.

On January 29, 2018 Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIRS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel biotherapeutics through its proprietary Anticalin technology platform for cancer, respiratory and other diseases, reported that it will host a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) Event in New York on Tuesday, February 6th from 8-10:30 AM EDT (Press release, Pieris Pharmaceuticals, JAN 29, 2018, View Source [SID1234523614]).

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The KOL event will feature world-class thought leaders in immuno-oncology and respiratory diseases, followed by a company presentation. The event will include presentations from:

Michael A. Curran, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Scientific Director of the Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation (ORBIT) platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
David H. Ilson, MD PhD, Medical Oncologist and Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Professor at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Gary Anderson, PhD, FThorSoc, FERS, Professor in the Medical Faculty at the University of Melbourne and Director of the Centre for Lung Health Research.
Bruce Levy, MD, Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division.
The event will be accessible via a live webcast through this link beginning at 8am on February 6th.

In-person attendance is by invitation only. For more information please contact Clayton Robertson at [email protected].

On January 29, 2018 Sierra Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRRA), a clinical stage drug development company focused on advancing next generation DNA Damage Response (DDR) therapeutics for the treatment of patients with cancer, reported that its Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Mark Kowalski, will present "Leveraging Synthetic Lethality to Enhance Clinical Trials with SRA737, a Next-Generation Chk1 Inhibitor" at the DNA Damage Response Therapeutics Summit in Boston, MA (Press release, Sierra Oncology, JAN 29, 2018, View Source [SID1234523616]). The presentation is scheduled for 2:15 pm Eastern Time (ET) on February 1, 2018.

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Sierra Oncology is a key sponsor of the DNA Damage Response Therapeutics Summit, which will gather leading stakeholders from across drug development over two days to discuss how to therapeutically exploit synthetic lethal interactions for targeted cancer therapy. This is the first industry-dedicated meeting focused on identifying the next generation of DNA damage response therapeutics, achieving efficacy across a range of contexts, optimizing synthetic lethal screening techniques and exploiting key targets of mechanisms of resistance.