On June 12, 2017 OncoSec Medical Incorporated ("OncoSec") (NASDAQ:ONCS), a company developing DNA-based intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, reported that they have engaged in a preclinical agreement through the OncoSec Technology Access Program (TAP) with Jounce Therapeutics, Inc., (NASDAQ:JNCE) Cambridge, MA, a company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer immunotherapies and predictive biomarkers for patient enrichment (Press release, OncoSec Medical, JUN 12, 2017, View Source [SID1234519503]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Under the agreement, Jounce can utilize OncoSec’s gene delivery technology to evaluate in vivo efficacy in murine models of intratumorally-delivered therapeutic candidates. The agreement includes the GENESIS research generator and proprietary applicators developed for research use.

"We are excited to provide a preclinical delivery solution to Jounce for early-stage research purposes and expand the data set from our delivery technologies through our Technology Access Program," said Punit Dhillon, CEO and President of OncoSec. "Through the establishment of these programs, OncoSec benefits from extensive, multi-party characterization and validation of our proprietary, state-of-the art electroporation technologies. We are pleased to be working with Jounce to help advance their preclinical programs with these technologies."

"OncoSec has developed a unique delivery technology that will enable us to rapidly assess potential candidates in preclinical models," said Debbie Law, Jounce’s Chief Scientific Officer. "We are delighted to be working with OncoSec and leveraging their technology to help us evaluate our preclinical immunotherapy programs."

About OncoSec Research Technologies and Technology Access Program:

The OncoSec GENESIS research generator was developed specifically for gene electro-transfer. It features customizable electroporation parameters for construct-specific optimization of expression, and it is the only in vivo electroporation device enabled with TRACE Technology (Tissue-Based, Real-Time Adaptive Control Electroporation.)

TRACE technology incorporates an electrochemical tissue-sensing control system to automatically adjust pulse width and treatment duration in real time during the electroporation procedure. This feature enables tissue- and therapeutic-specific delivery optimization, maximizing uptake of the therapeutic while reducing unnecessary cell ablation or damage. In research models, GENESIS with TRACE has yielded higher and more consistent in vivo protein expression versus fixed-parameter electroporation, even in heterogeneous tissues.

Potential advantages of GENESIS with TRACE for use in murine models include robust and conformationally-native in vivo expression of difficult proteins, including GPCRs and receptors that function in multimeric form. Moreover, the consistent results obtained with these technologies in heterogeneous tissues support reliable intratumoral delivery of a wide variety of DNA-encodable therapeutics across multiple syngeneic, xenograft, and PDX models. Using these technologies, OncoSec has expressed more than fifty proteins in vivo, including multimers and structurally-complex fusion proteins, and no protein tested to date has failed to successfully express.

The OncoSec Technology Access Program makes OncoSec’s electroporation technologies available to collaborators for preclinical research. Devices are available for intratumoral, intradermal, and intramuscular delivery. For more information, please contact [email protected].

For SEC reporting purposes, the agreement between OncoSec and Jounce is non-material.

On June 12, 2017 Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRS), reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") has issued a complete response letter ("CRL") for its biologics license application ("BLA") for CHS-1701, a pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) biosimilar candidate, under the 351(k) pathway (Press release, Coherus Biosciences, JUN 12, 2017, View Source/news-releases/news-release-details/coherus-biosciences-receives-complete-response-letter-fda-its" target="_blank" title="View Source/news-releases/news-release-details/coherus-biosciences-receives-complete-response-letter-fda-its" rel="nofollow">View Source [SID1234531703]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The CRL primarily focused on the FDA request for a reanalysis of a subset of subject samples with a revised immunogenicity assay, and requests for certain additional manufacturing related process information. The FDA did not request a clinical study to be performed in oncology patients. Additionally, the CRL does not indicate additional process qualification lots would be required or raise concerns over the GMP status of CHS-1701 bulk manufacturing and fill-finish vendors.

Coherus will work with the FDA to address the information requests.

"While we are disappointed in the delay that this additional request has caused, we remain confident in our ability to address the FDA’s requests for the purpose of obtaining approval for CHS-1701," said Denny Lanfear, President and CEO of Coherus BioSciences. "We are encouraged that a patient study has not been requested and we expect that we will be able to respond to the FDA and meet with them to define a path forward in the coming months. Neulasta is the largest selling oncology biologic in the U.S., and we anticipate CHS-1701’s approval will generate significant U.S. healthcare savings while increasing patient access."

Coherus’ management team will host a conference call on Monday, June 12 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.

Conference Call Information
Dial-in: (844) 452-6826 (domestic) or (765) 507-2587 (international)
Conference ID: 35568643
Please join the conference call at least 10 minutes early to register.
A replay of this conference call will be posted to the company’s website View Source and will be available until July 12, 2017.

On June 12, 2017 Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc. ("Dragonfly"), reported a global strategic collaboration with Celgene Corporation and its affiliates ("Celgene") to discover, develop and commercialize innovative immuno-oncology treatment options for patients with hematological malignancies based on Dragonfly’s Natural Killer ("NK") cell based TriNKET technology platform (Press release, Dragonfly Therapeutics, JUN 12, 2017, View Source [SID1234533242]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The collaboration allows Celgene the exclusive option to in-license worldwide rights for up to four therapeutic candidates with potential utility in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, and additional hematological malignancies. The collaboration includes a $33 million upfront payment, and potential future milestone and royalty payments.

"NK-cell biology and immunotherapy are increasingly critical areas of hematologic research and we are looking forward to working with Dragonfly’s team of world-leading experts," said Rupert Vessey, FRCP DPhil, President of Research and Early Development for Celgene Corporation. "This collaboration will leverage the strengths of each company as we work together to bring innovative therapies to patients."

"Through execution of this strategic alliance with Celgene, Dragonfly is well positioned to accelerate our efforts to bring potential new immuno-oncology treatment options to patients with hematological malignancies," said Bill Haney, co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics. "Celgene is a preeminent biopharmaceutical company with a demonstrated history of recognizing disruptive science that may lead to new treatment options for patients with cancer. We look forward to a successful collaboration."

On June 12, 2017 Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQX:MATN), a biopharmaceutical company developing vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) for the treatment of orphan oncology indications, reported an update regarding the current status of all clinical trials of its investigational drugs (Press release, Mateon Therapeutics, JUN 12, 2017, View Source [SID1234519489]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Company-sponsored studies:
FOCUS for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer
FOCUS is a phase 2/3 study in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, evaluating whether the addition of CA4P to the current standard-of-care (bevacizumab plus chemotherapy) improves progression-free survival. As of June 9, 2017, FOCUS has enrolled 57 patients in the United States, Germany and Belgium, with enrollment on-going at 37 sites. The second interim analysis, which will occur after the first 40 patients have been treated for at least two months or withdrawn from the study, remains on track to be completed in August 2017. Based on the number of patients enrolled and projected enrollment trends, the company expects the third interim analysis, representing 60 patients, to be completed in late September 2017.

OX1222 for acute myeloid leukemia
OX1222 is a dose-ascending phase 1b/2 clinical trial evaluating OXi4503 in combination with cytarabine in patients with recurrent/relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Mateon recently completed enrollment and treatment for the fourth cohort of 7.81 mg/m2 of OXi4503, and no dose limiting toxicities or significant safety issues were identified among the three patients. One patient treated in the fourth cohort experienced a significant AML blast reduction, with blast counts going from 89% upon enrollment to 7% following the first cycle of treatment. However, the patient subsequently experienced an unrelated adverse event and withdrew from the study approximately two weeks after the last dose of OXi4503 in the second cycle of treatment, prior to an additional blast measurement and accordingly did not meet the criteria for a complete remission. Three complete remissions were observed in the first three cohorts (19% overall in the clinical trial to date), each of which occurred after two cycles of treatment, and two complete remissions remain on-going at 12+ and 3+ months. Enrollment is on-going in the fifth cohort of 9.76 mg/m2 of OXi4503.

Investigator-sponsored studies:
PAZOFOS for recurrent ovarian cancer
The PAZOFOS study is a phase 1b/2 investigator-sponsored study being conducted in the U.K., evaluating the combination of CA4P and the TKI-inhibitor pazopanib for patients with advanced recurrent ovarian cancer. To date, the study has enrolled and treated 20 patients with CA4P and pazopanib in the phase 1b and phase 2 portions of the trial. The study sponsor, The Christie NHS Trust, has temporarily suspended enrollment in the trial in order to collect and review additional information on two recent serious adverse events – one patient in the study experienced hypertension and myocardial ischemia, and a second patient experienced chest pain. In both cases, the events were of short duration and the clinical symptoms resolved.

The label for pazopanib, which is not approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer in the U.S., contains warnings for cardiac dysfunction, arterial thrombotic events and hypertension. CA4P has been observed in most patients to cause an acute and transient increase in blood pressure following administration.

Following review of the data available for the patients in PAZOFOS, the company does not believe any changes or adjustments to Mateon’s FOCUS study are warranted. FOCUS has restrictive enrollment criteria for patients with pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors and specific algorithms for treatment of patients that experience blood pressure increases.

Neuroendocrine tumors
The Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky recently began a phase 1 study evaluating the combination of CA4P and everolimus for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. In the first part of the study, patients are being treated with two different dosing regimens of CA4P in combination with everolimus to evaluate the safety of the drug combination and establish appropriate CA4P dosing levels.

"We are pleased that studies in both our core programs, the FOCUS study of CA4P for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and Study OX1222 of OXi4503 for AML, are enrolling well and showing a good safety profile, as well as initial indications of efficacy," stated William D. Schwieterman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mateon. "We are looking forward to data read outs from each of these studies later this summer."

"The investigator-sponsored PAZOFOS study, which uses CA4P with a different combination of drugs for recurrent ovarian cancer, also holds significant potential for patients and we’re hopeful that enrollment will resume soon," Dr. Schwieterman added.

On June 12, 2017 Acceleron Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:XLRN), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics to treat serious and rare diseases, reported that the DART Phase 2 study of dalantercept plus axitinib did not achieve its primary endpoint in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) (Press release, Acceleron Pharma, JUN 12, 2017, View Source [SID1234519496]). The primary efficacy endpoint of the study was to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in progression-free survival (PFS) for treatment of dalantercept plus axitinib versus placebo plus axitinib in advanced RCC patients.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"We designed a robust Phase 2 study to evaluate the efficacy of dalantercept in combination with anti-VEGF therapy in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients whose disease has progressed on prior anti-VEGF therapy. We are disappointed by the results given the need for new agents that improve outcomes for patients with advanced RCC. We would like to thank the patients, caregivers, investigators, and our team who made the DART study possible," said Habib Dable, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acceleron. "Based on the lack of efficacy, we are discontinuing the development of dalantercept. We remain focused on the development of luspatercept across multiple Phase 3 and Phase 2 studies and ACE-083 across two neuromuscular diseases, and will continue to pursue additional candidates in areas of high unmet medical need."

The DART study enrolled 131 patients with advanced RCC. The efficacy data are based on the All-Treated Set (ATS) which is defined as all randomized patients who received any study drug (n=119) as of the database cutoff. In the ATS, 58 patients were randomized to dalantercept plus axitinib and 61 patients were randomized to placebo plus axitinib.

The median PFS for dalantercept plus axitinib was 6.8 months versus 5.6 months for placebo plus axitinib. Dalantercept plus axitinib did not decrease the rate of disease progression or death (HR 1.11, two-sided 95% CI [0.71, 1.73], one-sided p-value 0.67). The key secondary endpoint for the study was PFS for patients who received two or more prior systemic anti-cancer therapies. In this analysis, the median PFS for dalantercept plus axitinib was 8.1 months versus 7.0 months for placebo plus axitinib (HR 0.78, two-sided 95% CI [0.33, 1.87], one-sided p-value 0.29). The confirmed objective response rate (ORR) for dalantercept plus axitinib was 19% versus 25% for placebo plus axitinib (p-value 0.43, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test).

The safety data are based on the 119 ATS patients. The frequency of Grade 3 or higher adverse events (AEs) regardless of causality were similar overall in the dalantercept plus axitinib (59%) and the placebo plus axitinib (64%) study arms. The frequency of serious AEs of any grade regardless of causality were also similar in the dalantercept plus axitinib (29%) and the placebo plus axitinib (26%) study arms. The AEs associated with dalantercept were consistent with those previously observed.

About the DART Phase 2 Study

The Phase 2 DART clinical trial is a two-part study in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. Part 1 is a dose-escalation study of dalantercept plus axitinib to evaluate the safety and tolerability of the combination in patients whose disease has progressed following one to three lines of prior therapy. Part 2 is a randomized, double-blind study of 130 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who have progressed following treatment with a VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Patients may have also received prior mTOR therapy and/or immunotherapy. For additional information on this clinical trial, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT01727336.

About Dalantercept

Dalantercept is an investigational protein therapeutic that inhibits angiogenesis by preventing BMP9, a protein in the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, from interacting with activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1), a cell-surface receptor found on proliferating vascular endothelial cells. Dalantercept inhibits ALK1 signaling, which is required for the development of mature, functional vasculature.