On January 4, 2018 AvantGen reported the successful completion of a first cancer therapeutic antibody discovery program for Tanabe Research Laboratories USA, Inc. (TRL) and the initiation of a second program (Press release, AvantGen, JAN 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234522916]).

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Under the terms of the collaboration, AvantGen is responsible for generating novel antibodies to specified cancer targets using its proprietary human antibody yeast display technology platform. TRL has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize antibodies discovered by AvantGen. AvantGen receives upfront payments and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties associated with the development and sale of any products derived from the collaboration.

"AvantGen’s antibody discovery and optimization services have been extensively validated against hundreds of targets primarily through numerous NIH SBIR I and II funded projects. Since the recent introduction of our new, state-of-the-art human antibody discovery and optimization platform, this second project with TRL represents the fifteenth de novo antibody discovery project we have initiated specifically for corporate partners," said Xiaomin Fan, Ph.D., founder and president of AvantGen. "The platform utilizes advantageous technologies, including a robust yeast display system, large natural human antibody database and fully human antibody libraries, for the generation of antibodies to meet challenging design goals for therapeutic, diagnostic and research tool purposes."

"The therapeutic antibody discovery program conducted by AvantGen was highly collaborative and was accomplished faster than expected, without the need to further optimize the antibodies in order to meet TRL’s design goals," said Roland Newman, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for TRL. "We look forward to working together on the second program and others in the future."

On January 4, 2018 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) reported that it will host a live audio webcast at the 36th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (Press release, Teva, JAN 4, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2324950 [SID1234522913]). Kåre Schultz, President & CEO will present on Monday, January 8, 2018 at 9:30 AM PST.

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What:

Teva Presentation at the 36th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Who:

Kåre Schultz, President & CEO
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

When:

Monday, January 8, 2018 at 9:30 AM PST

Where:

www.ir.tevapharm.com

How:

Live over the Internet – log on to the Web at the address above and register for the event (approximately 10 minutes before). An archive of the webcast will be available on Teva’s website.

On January 4, 2018 Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) and KingMed Diagnostics (SSE: 603882.SS) reported an agreement to jointly develop novel oncology and hereditary disease testing applications utilizing Illumina’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology (Press release, Illumina, JAN 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234522917]). The collaboration is a significant step toward China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) review and approval, and serves as a starting point to deliver precision medicine to patients throughout China.

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Under the agreement, Illumina and KingMed Diagnostics will partner to co-develop an integrated NGS system that provides cost-effective and ready-to-use in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) assays for molecular oncology and hereditary cancer testing. The new system is based on Illumina’s MiniSeq System and related sequencing consumables, integrated with KingMed Diagnostics’ proprietary testing components, which include library preparation kits and analysis software.

The integrated system can reach cancer patients across China via KingMed Diagnostics’ extensive clinical network that serves more than 8,000 Class 2 and Class 3B hospitals.

"KingMed Diagnostics’ motivation is to improve diagnosis and treatment for the more than 4 million new cancer patients identified in China each year. Our mission is to bring state-of-the-art technology to Chinese patients by enhancing their standard of care and improving their outcomes," said Professor Yaoming Liang, Chairman and CEO of KingMed Diagnostics. "Illumina is the ideal collaborator because they have a proven track record of working with multiple domestic companies in China, in addition to being the first company with a U.S. FDA-cleared, next-generation sequencing instrument."

"KingMed Diagnostics is one of the leading independent clinical laboratory service providers in China, and as such, we are excited to partner with them to help customize the MiniSeq System under CFDA requirements for clinical oncology applications," said Garret Hampton, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Clinical Genomics at Illumina.

"This agreement is a clear demonstration of our commitment to working with broader clinical testing service providers in China who want to develop and commercialize IVDs based on NGS," said Ruilin Zhao, Ph.D., Illumina’s Vice President and General Manager of Greater China. "As we continue to expand our clinical partner networks, we are focused on providing the best healthcare solutions to patients throughout China."

On January 4, 2018 Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) reported it will report fourth quarter and year-end 2017 financial results on Thursday, January 25, 2018, before the financial markets open (Press release, Biogen, JAN 4, 2018, View Source;0 [SID1234522905]).

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Following the release of the financials, the Company will host a live webcast with Biogen management from 8:00-9:00 am ET. To access the live webcast, please go to the investor relations section of Biogen’s website at www.biogen.com/investors. Following the live webcast, an archived version of the call will be available at the same URL.

On January 4, 2018 Arvinas LLC, a private biotechnology company focused on creating a new class of drugs based on protein degradation, reported a research collaboration and license agreement with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) for the discovery and development of drug candidates using Arvinas’ proprietary PROTAC (PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras) Platform, a novel technology used to create small molecule therapeutics aimed at degrading disease-causing cellular proteins (Press release, Arvinas, JAN 4, 2018, View Source [SID1234585092]).

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The multi-year agreement covers the discovery and development of potential PROTAC clinical candidates designed to degrade several key disease-causing proteins in multiple therapeutic areas. Arvinas will drive discovery efforts, and Pfizer will be accountable for clinical development and commercialization of any products that may result from this collaboration. Under the terms of the agreement, Arvinas may receive up to $830 million in upfront and potential development and commercialization milestone payments upon achievement of specified preclinical, clinical and commercial milestones. In addition, Arvinas may be entitled to receive tiered royalties based on global product sales on any products that may result from this collaboration.

"As a global industry leader, Pfizer is uniquely positioned to partner with us as we exploit the potential of PROTACs in multiple disease areas," stated John Houston, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Arvinas. "This marks another key milestone as we continue to expand the use of our targeted protein degradation platform and advance Arvinas’s first candidates into the clinic."

"Protein degradation is an area of considerable interest for us, and we look forward to working with Arvinas to determine the potential applicability of this approach across multiple therapeutic areas," said John Ludwig, Ph.D., Head of Medicinal Sciences, Pfizer.

The PROTAC Platform offers potential improvements over traditional small molecule inhibitors by using the cell’s natural and selective ubiquitin- proteasome system to degrade disease-causing proteins. By removing target proteins directly rather than simply inhibiting them, PROTACs can provide multiple advantages over small molecule inhibitors which can require high systemic exposure to achieve sufficient inhibition, often resulting in toxic side effects and eventual drug resistance. With multiple protein targets, Arvinas’ PROTAC platform has demonstrated that a transient binding event at a range of binding sites and affinities can translate into very potent degradation of the target protein.