On December 4, 2017 Cellectis (Paris:ALCLS) (NASDAQ:CLLS) (Alternext: ALCLS – Nasdaq: CLLS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene-edited allogeneic CAR T-cells (UCART), reported the appointment of Prof. Stéphane Depil, MD, PhD, to the role of Senior Vice President Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer (Press release, Cellectis, DEC 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234522366]). Prof. Depil’s responsibilities include bringing Cellectis’ product candidates to clinical-stage development, strategic and operational management of all therapeutic activities, and supervising research and development projects for the Company. Stéphane Depil will keep academic and research activities as adjunct Professor at Léon Bérard Cancer Center & University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France.

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"Stéphane Depil’s deep medical, academic, and clinical regulatory oncology experience – specifically in R&D for all phases within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and clinical research spaces – will be invaluable as he leads Cellectis’ strategy and promotes awareness of the breakthrough work that we are doing as a leader and innovator in the gene-editing field," said Dr. André Choulika, Cellectis CEO. "His strategic alliance-building, collaboration skills, understanding of the global environment with oncological clinical research, and firsthand experience running a pharma company all add a great degree of ability and depth to our leadership team. This will be tremendously advantageous as Cellectis continues its efforts to cure cancer with our off-the-shelf gene-edited CAR T-cell product candidates."

Prof. Depil is a board-certified physician in hematology, with over 15 years of experience in oncology clinical development, both in hospital / university and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining the Léon Bérard Cancer Center & Cancer Research Center of Lyon, France as Medical Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program, he served as Chief Executive Officer at Netris Pharma, where he was responsible for the management of an oncology startup and preclinical development of a first-in-class monoclonal antibody in Phase I. Prior to Netris, Stéphane Depil worked at Servier for 8 years in a variety of roles, including Director of Oncology Research and Development, where he managed 20 programs: 5 in the clinic, 7 at late preclinical stages, and 8 at early preclinical stages. He also directly supervised over 100 licensing opportunities.

"As we are at a transformative moment in history with CAR T-cell therapy, Cellectis is harnessing the power of gene editing to improve patients’ lives through the allogeneic approach," added Prof. Depil. "As such, Cellectis is well-positioned to make its mark with the Company’s unique pioneering approach, and I look forward to joining the team at this pivotal time. This is an unprecedented era of biopharmaceutical innovation to develop next-generation therapeutics that will transform patient care as we know it today."

On December 4, 2017 Abbott (NYSE: ABT) reported that it will present at the 36th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018 (Press release, Abbott, DEC 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234522346]). Brian Yoor, executive vice president of finance and Chief Financial Officer, will present at the conference at 6 p.m. Central time.

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A live audio webcast of the presentation will be accessible through Abbott’s Investor Relations website at www.abbottinvestor.com. An archived edition of the presentation will be available the next day.

On December 4, 2017 OncoTracker, Inc., a private medical diagnostics company, reported a license agreement with Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: JUNO), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, to advance its program in multiple myeloma using gamma secretase inhibitors (GSIs) in combination with BCMA-directed CAR T cells (Press release, OncoTracker, DEC 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234553990]).

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Through its agreement with OncoTracker, Juno will gain exclusive rights to intellectual property within the field of combinations of GSIs and BCMA-directed engineered T cells.

James R. Berenson, M.D., President and CSO of OncoTracker stated, "In the past 12 months, we have made significant advances in personalizing treatment for multiple myeloma patients utilizing our proprietary sBCMA diagnostic test. Our test has broad ranging applications, including clinical trial monitoring, companion diagnostic testing, and most importantly, clinical practice testing and monitoring. We believe that our simple, proprietary blood test can accurately and rapidly assess benefit of ongoing treatments, can accurately predict both PFS and OS, and can identify patients that require immediate treatment vs. wait and watch categories."

"BCMA appears to be an important target for treating patients with multiple myeloma, and Juno is dedicated to investigating novel approaches to maximize efficacy for these patients. These licenses open up an important approach to improve the activity and outcomes for CAR T cells targeted at BCMA," said Sunil Agarwal, M.D., Juno’s President of Research and Development. "We plan to combine gamma secretase inhibitors with our BCMA CAR T product candidates, initially testing combinations in 2018."

1Pont M. "Gamma secretase inhibition increases recognition of multiple myeloma by BCMA-specific chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells." Presented at Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper). November 8-12, 2017. National Harbor, MD.

On December 4, 2017 NantKwest Inc. (Nasdaq:NK), a pioneering, next generation, clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on harnessing the unique power of our immune system using natural killer (NK) cells to treat cancer, infectious diseases and inflammatory diseases, reported an oral presentations will be given at the upcoming 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, December 9, 2017 (Press release, NantKwest, DEC 4, 2017, http://ir.nantkwest.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254059&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2320823 [SID1234522350]).

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Presentation Title

CD19-Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Engineered Natural Killer (NK) Cell Therapy: Novel "Off the Shelf" Immunotherapy in CD20 Resistant B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) Cell Lines, Primary NHL Cells, and a Human Lymphoma Xenograft Model Target Activated Natural Killer (CD19.taNK) Cellular Therapy: A Novel Immunotherapeutic Approach to the Treatment of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL)

Abstract #110: View Source

Presenter: Sneha Purvey, MD, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA

Date: Saturday, December 9, 2017, 9:45AM, Building C, Level 1, C101 Auditorium (Georgia World Congress Center)

Presentation Summary

This oral presentation will present preclinical data on the company’s CD19.taNK program. CD19.taNK cell therapy is based on the use of engineered NK cells expressing a human anti-CD19 CAR that target CD19 expressing cells. The study was designed to more deeply understand the mechanism of action associated with NK-based therapy in B cell NHL and determine the potential for CD19.taNK cells as an "off the shelf" therapy.

The study author’s identified high levels of NK activating ligands indicative of a conserved mechanistic response to CD19-CAR NK cell therapy. In addition, the authors determined that CD19.taNK cell therapy induced significant single-agent cytolytic activity against a wide range NHL cells, including primary DLBCL cells, and cells resistant to standard anti-CD20 antibody.

"CD20 targeted antibody therapy represent one of the most effective and widely used therapeutic interventions in blood cancers. However, resistance is common, occurring in a large percentage of patients," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, Chairman and CEO of NantKwest. "For next generation therapies, such as our CD19.taNK cell therapy, circumventing resistance requires both a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of resistance and the mechanisms of action. We believe these study results provide encouraging data elucidating the significant, single-agent cytolytic activity of CD19.taNK cell therapy and takes us one step closer in our focus to transition this novel NK cell therapy to clinical cancer care."

On December 4, 2017 Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (TSX: ONC) (OTCQX: ONCYF) (Oncolytics or the Company), a biotech company developing REOLYSIN, also known as pelareorep, an intravenously delivered immuno-oncolytic virus that activates the innate and adaptive immune systems to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot’, reported that it will present at the Oncolytic Virotherapy Summit (Press release, Oncolytics Biotech, DEC 4, 2017, View Source [SID1234522351]). Dr. Matt Coffey, Oncolytics’ President and Chief Executive Officer, will present on Wednesday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m. ET as part of a panel presentation and then present specifically on pelareorep in a Clinical Case Study presentation at 2:30 p.m. ET on the same day. The conference takes place on December 5th, 6th and 7th in Miami, Florida.

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"The Oncolytic Virotherapy Summit offers us another opportunity to highlight our extensive experience with pelareorep in the clinic and to illustrate its ability to induce an inflamed tumor phenotype amongst our peers and for potential partners," said Dr. Coffey. "Our clinical experience with pelareorep has led us to favorable feedback from the FDA following our end-of-phase 2 meeting which helps us define a clear regulatory path in metastatic breast cancer and a single 400-patient phase 3 registration study. Our phase 3 protocol will be made available following evaluation and completion of discussions with clinical advisors, potential partners and the EMA."

The panel presentation: "How Can We Improve The Efficacy of Oncolytic Virotherapies?", also including management from PsiOxus Therapeutics, Vyriad and Replimune Group, will cover:

Viral modulation of the tumor microenvironment
Increasing the viral impact with activated immune responses
Combination drug therapies to stimulate the immune response and prevent immunosuppression
Viral delivery for largest impact
Dr. Coffey’s individual presentation: "Clinical Progress and Robust Safety Findings of Using Reovirus as an Immuno-Oncology Viral Agent to Treat Cancer", will highlight:

The role of REOLYSIN in the activation of the immune system and the induction of an inflamed tumor phenotype in the tumor microenvironment
Overall survival data from the Company’s randomized phase 2 metastatic breast cancer study
The largest pooled safety database of any oncolytic virus
About REOLYSIN/Pelareorep
REOLYSIN, also known as 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.