On December 12, 2018 Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused upon activation of innate immunity to treat advanced cancer, reported that it has appointed Barry Labinger as President and CEO. Arthur M. Krieg, MD, Checkmate’s founder and current President and CEO, will assume the newly-created role of Chief Scientific Officer (Press release, Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, DEC 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234532035]). Both Mr. Labinger and Dr. Krieg will serve on Checkmate’s Board of Directors.

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Checkmate also announced the completion of a $22 million financing led by a new investor, Decheng Capital. The financing also included participation from existing investors, Sofinnova, venBio, and F-Prime.

"Checkmate’s encouraging early clinical data provide a strong foundation for its further growth as a leading cancer immunotherapy company with broad potential. Barry’s deep experience in oncology drug development and commercialization, along with this additional funding, will support Checkmate’s further progress," commented Mike Powell, Chairman of the Board of Checkmate, and General Partner, Sofinnova Ventures. "Art has successfully led the company to this critical stage in its growth, including this planned leadership transition. We are delighted to have Barry as CEO and Art as CSO. We are confident that they will successfully guide Checkmate to its next stage of evolution," continued Dr. Powell.

Mr. Barry Labinger brings to Checkmate nearly three decades of pharmaceutical and biotech industry experience, most recently serving as President, CEO, and Director of Biothera Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage cancer immunotherapy company focused on innate immune activation. Prior to Biothera, he was Executive Vice President and President, Biosciences Division, at Emergent BioSolutions Inc., where he led the development and commercialization of oncology, immunology, and hematology products and product candidates. He previously held leadership roles at Human Genome Sciences, 3M Pharmaceuticals, and Immunex.

"I firmly believe in the importance of innate immune activation to enhance the benefits of other cancer immunotherapeutics," said Mr. Labinger. "CMP-001 has demonstrated best-in-class potential, and I’m excited to join Art, the Checkmate team, and our Board to maximize the potential of CMP-001 to improve outcomes for cancer patients."

"My initial goal in founding Checkmate was to determine if intratumoral TLR9 activation could induce tumor regression in anti-PD-1 refractory advanced cancer patients," Dr. Krieg commented. "Now that we have achieved that goal, I am delighted to turn over Checkmate’s leadership to Barry, so that I can focus my own efforts on the further scientific development of our platform. I believe that our complementary experience and our shared vision will enable us to accelerate and maximize Checkmate’s further development."

Proceeds from the financing will support ongoing clinical development of Checkmate’s lead product CMP-001 in advanced melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) refractory to prior anti-PD-1 therapy, along with expansion into additional solid tumor types.

On December 12, 2018 BerGenBio ASA (OSE:BGBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a pipeline of first-in-class AXL kinase inhibitors to treat multiple cancer indications, reported that the Company will be presenting key results from its Phase II clinical programme with selective AXL inhibitor bemcentinib at the DNB’s 9th Annual Nordic Healthcare Conference in Oslo, Norway, today at 10:15-10:40 CET (Press release, BerGenBio, DEC 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234532017]).

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The slides are available for download at the Company’s website: www.bergenbio.com/investors/presentations/

Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, commented: "We have made significant progress during 2018 establishing clinical proof of concept for the remarkable utility of bemcentinib in cancers with high unmet clinical need and large market potential. We have shown that our once-a-day, oral selective AXL inhibitor is well tolerated as a monotherapy and in combination with immune-, targeted and chemotherapies. What is more, consistently we have seen that efficacy scales with AXL biomarker expression leading to superior response rates in AXL biomarker positive relapsed/refractory AML and MDS as a monotherapy as well as non-small cell lung cancer where we are combining with the immunotherapy blockbuster Keytruda. We have met all our operational milestones this year and are looking forward to starting a randomised phase II programme towards the end of H1 2019 based on key results obtained this year".

On December 12, 2018 Apexian Pharmaceuticals reported is shedding light on the question of how pre-leukemic cells transform into full-blown leukemia (Press release, Apexian Pharmaceuticals, DEC 12, 2018, View Source [SID1234532036]).

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Genetic mutations by themselves are rarely enough to flip the switch. Inflammation also plays a role. But, until now, the question of "how" remained unanswered.

Apexian Chief Science Officer Mark Kelley, PhD, and his colleagues presented their findings at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper)’s December 1, 2018 meeting in San Diego, California. When a putative tumor-suppressor gene called TET2 does not function well, acute inflammation or infection can enhance the production of myeloid stem and progenitor cells in the bone marrow that are precursors to circulating mature myeloid cells. The TET2 loss of function amplifies; inflammatory proteins increase, and myeloid cells rapidly mature, increasing in sheer numbers as well as developing resistance to programmed cell death.

Myeloid cells, which contribute to immunity, are normally very short-lived. However, when those cells live too long or become too numerous, dangerous levels of inflammation can result. Using a mouse model, Kelley and his colleagues demonstrated that Apexian’s flagship compound APX3330 can prevent precancerous cells from proliferating and block cells from making inflammatory proteins.

Such anti-inflammatory therapy could be of clinical value in people carrying TET2 mutations.

"Apexian continues to develop a robust portfolio of APE1/Ref-1 compounds that have broad utility in oncology, hematology and other diseases," says Steve Carchedi, President and CEO. "We are excited by the recent scientific findings and continue to expand our research and development beyond solid tumors."

APX3330 also has clinical utility with solid tumors. A Phase 1 trial for patients with advanced solid tumors is concluding

On December 11, 2018 THERADIAG (ISIN: FR0004197747, Ticker: ALTER), a company specializing in in vitro diagnostics and theranostics, reported the appointment by its Board of Directors of Bertrand de Castelnau as its Chief Executive Officer (Directeur Général) (Press release, Theradiag, DEC 11, 2018, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=appointment-of-bertrand-de-castelnau-as-chief-executive-officer-of-theradiag [SID1234532002]).

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Bertrand de Castelnau will replace Michel Finance, whose term expires on December 31, 2018, and will take up his post from January 21, 2019. To this end, the Board of Directors appointed Fabienne François, currently Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at Theradiag, as interim Chief Executive Officer for the period from January 1 to January 20, 2019.

Aged 58, Bertrand de Castelnau has more than 25 years’ experience in the field of diagnostics. He began his career as a Commercial Attaché in Islamabad, Pakistan. He then joined Roche in Switzerland, as a Corporate Auditor before moving to the Diagnostics division and then taking charge of the Asia-Pacific region for Roche Diagnostics, based in Singapore. Bertrand went on to become Operations Manager at Guerbet for four years, before spending 10 years running the Horiba ABX Group and its Horiba Medical division. Finally he joined DiaSys as head of Marketing, Sales and Finance.

A fluent speaker of several languages, he holds an MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) and a law degree from Paris.

Pierre Morgon, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Theradiag commented: "We are delighted to welcome Bertrand as Chief Executive Officer of Theradiag. His 25 years’ experience in the field of diagnostics and his track record of creating partnerships and developing international businesses will be key advantages for the expansion of Theradiag."

Bertrand de Castelnau, incoming Chief Executive Officer of Theradiag, added, "I am joining the Theradiag team with great enthusiasm and look forward to contributing my skills and experience to the growth and the expansion of the international reach of Theradiag and of biotherapy monitoring."

Changes to the Board of Directors

Following the resignation of Dominique Costantini from her position as Director, the Board of Directors is now as follows:

Pierre Morgon, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Sylvie Bratel, Independent Director
Vincent Fert, Independent Director
John Li, Director
Dominique Takizawa, Independent Director

On December 11, 2018 Aro Biotherapeutics, a newly established biotechnology company, reported that it has raised $13 million in start-up investment to develop and commercialize Centyrins, an innovative next generation protein drug platform (Press release, Aro Biotherapeutics, DEC 11, 2018, View Source [SID1234533213]). Co-founded by Sue Dillon, PhD, and Karyn O’Neil, PhD, both former R&D leaders at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Aro has recruited a highly accomplished scientific and executive management team headquartered in the Pennovation Center in Philadelphia. Aro holds an exclusive worldwide license for Centyrin protein therapeutics, which were discovered by Dr. O’Neil and her team at Janssen. Centyrins are designed to achieve improved efficacy and safety profiles for patients diagnosed with cancer and other serious diseases. Aro was established through an initial start-up investment from Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) and BioMotiv, LLC.

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"Centyrins were conceived with the aim of simplifying the complexities of antibodies," said Dr. Dillon, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aro. "This has enabled Aro scientists to rapidly create bi- and multi-specific Centyrins that are simultaneously optimized for potent anti-tumor activity and for efficient manufacture in E. coli. In addition, Aro is progressing Centyrin-nucleic acid drug conjugates to enable delivery to tumor cells, immune cells and other tissues with the aim of addressing disease targets that have been considered ‘undruggable.’"

Building a Pipeline of Life Changing Therapies

Centyrins are small, structurally simple, ultra-stable, highly soluble proteins. These characteristics enable the discovery of medicines with new mechanisms of action for cancer and other devastating diseases. Aro’s lead program, which is a bi-specific Centyrin, is in late-stage lead optimization for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Aro’s second therapeutic program is focused on creating a Centyrin-siRNA conjugate for other forms of cancer. This first-of-its-kind combination is designed to address unmet medical needs by targeting drug payloads in high concentration to the site of disease, while lowering the toxicity to non-target organs. The company holds an exclusive worldwide license for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of Centyrin protein therapeutics.

Aro Leaders Bring a Track Record of Success in the Discovery, Development and Commercialization of Blockbuster Biologics for Cancer and Immune Diseases

Co-founder Sue Dillon, PhD is Aro’s Chief Executive Officer. "Our executive management team has the breadth of experience to deliver on our promise to patients," added Dr. Dillon, who previously served as the Global Therapeutic Area Head, Immunology at Janssen, where her team achieved numerous regulatory approvals for innovative antibody products, which included REMICADE, SIMPONI, STELARA and TREMFYA. Dr. Dillon was named one of the Top Women in Biotech by FierceBiotech in 2013. She received her PhD in Immunology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Immunology at Duke University.

Co-founder Karyn O’Neil, PhD, is Aro’s Chief Scientific Officer. She previously served as the Director of Antibody Discovery and as the Venture Leader for Centyrex, an internal venture within Janssen. She is co-inventor on the Centyrin patents and led the team focused on advancing the Centyrin platform and establishing its potential for drug delivery. Dr. O’Neil received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania where she focused on protein engineering and protein biophysics. She has authored more than 55 publications, is inventor on over 30 patents, and serves as an editor for Protein Engineering, Design and Selection.

Steve Nadler, PhD, is Vice President of Discovery and Translational Research. Dr. Nadler has over 25 years of extensive R&D experience, most recently serving as the Executive Director and Head Immunoscience, Immuno-oncology and Oncology Discovery Translational Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Nadler played a major role in discovery and development of ORENCIA and NULOJIX through global approvals. He received his PhD from the University of Texas at Houston followed by postdoctoral studies at Yale Medical School. Dr. Nadler has authored more than 80 publications and is co-inventor on over 10 patents. He is also an adjunct full professor at Rutgers Medical School.

Derek Miller is Chief Business Officer and Head of Corporate Strategy at Aro. Mr. Miller most recently served as Chief Business Officer for Celator Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for developing and executing against the company’s corporate development, pipeline and commercial strategies. Prior to Celator, he had successful track records in Global Launches and Commercialization, Business Development, and Portfolio Strategy at Genentech, Centocor and GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Miller received an MBA from Villanova University and a BA in Biology from the University of Delaware.

Mark Laurenzi joined Aro as Vice President of Finance and Operations. He has held a number of roles at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, including Venture Leader. Previously, Mr. Laurenzi has consulted with private equity and venture capital firms, serving as an operating partner and interim executive for selected portfolio companies. Mr. Laurenzi received an AB in Economics from Princeton University, and is a graduate of New York University School of Law. He began his career practicing corporate and securities law in New York City.