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Oncorena raises SEK 14.5 million to prepare for clinical study in advanced kidney cancer

On November 22, 2018 Oncorena Holding AB reported that the company through a share issue has raised capital to build its organization and resources in preparation for clinical development with a patient study of a new treatment modality for advanced kidney (renal) cancer (Press release, Oncorena, NOV 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234531572]). The capital was raised from Oncorena’s largest shareholders P.U.L.S. AB and HealthCap, as well as other current shareholders. In addition, several new investors have made significant investments.

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The new capital will be used to build the company’s organization and resources, as well as all activities needed in preparation for the planned clinical study. In the phase I-IIa study to be conducted in patients with advanced kidney cancer on dialysis will be treated with Oncorena’s potential new drug orellanine. Orellanine is a substance that is taken up specifically by kidney cancer cells and kidney cells, pre-clinical experimental studies have shown very promising results.

"The new capital provides an important infusion to enable necessary steps in the development of orellanine into a novel treatment for patients with advanced renal cancer. The medical need is high for these patients since there is no effective treatment with good tolerability available today," says Lars Grundemar, CEO of Oncorena.

"It will be a strategically important step for Oncorena when the clinical patient study with this innovative compound can be started. I am therefore pleased to notice the great confidence in Oncorena amongst the existing shareholders as well as from new investors," says Bengt-Åke Bengtsson, chairman of Oncorena’s board.

For further information, please contact
Lars Grundemar, CEO, Oncorena Holding AB, [email protected],
phone +46 (0)76 209 5518
Bengt-Åke Bengtsson, Chairman of the Board, Oncorena Holding AB, [email protected], phone +46 (0)70 746 0000

About kidney cancer
Approximately 1 in 10,000 is afflicted with kidney cancer annually. 80% of the patients are between 40 and 69 years of age when they are diagnosed (median age 63 years). The disease can often be cured with surgery if detected in time, but unfortunately the diagnosis is often made when the tumor has already spread to other organs. The prognosis is then considerably less favorable and certain groups have a median survival of only approx. 1.5 years. Today the disease is treated with various types of drugs, often with severe side effects, and standard chemotherapy drugs have only limited effect. There is therefore a high need for new, effective and safe drugs.

Full year results for the year ended 31 July 2018

On November 21, 2018 C4X Discovery Holdings plc (AIM: C4XD), a pioneering drug discovery company,reported its full year results for the year ended 31 July 2018 (Press release, C4X Discovery, NOV 21, 2018, View Source [SID1234533246]).

Financial highlights
Revenue increased to £7,064,000 (2017: £143,000), driven entirely by the Indivior licensing agreement.
R&D expenses increased 15% to £6,992,000 (2017: £6,100,000), reflecting the Company’s investment in drug discovery activity and its continued development of lead drug candidates.
Total loss after tax was £1,135,000 or 2.44 pence per share (2017: £6,782,000 or 16.88 pence per share).
Post period end, C4XD completed a £10.1 million fundraise (before expenses) in October 2018 through the placing and open offer of 11,210,674 new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (Ordinary Shares) at a price of 90 pence (GBX) per Ordinary Share.
Operational highlights
Business model validated

Licensing deal with Indivior in March 2018 for our Orexin-1 antagonist programme; $10 million upfront with up to $284 million in milestone payments.
Discovery Engine progress

C4XD’s proprietary drug asset portfolio has grown from three programmes in 2014 to nine active programmes spread across multiple therapeutic areas.
Disease areas of focus are inflammation, neurodegeneration, immune-oncology/oncology and additional opportunistic areas (e.g., addiction and diabetes).
To date, the Taxonomy3 platform has identified 285 novel, genetically-validated and disease-linked genes that will generate target insights for future discovery programmes in inflammation and neurodegeneration.
Launched Stage 1 of virtual reality-based molecular visualisation tool, 4Sight with the aim of increasing the throughput of the Company’s pre-clinical portfolio by accelerating hit generation and lead optimisation timeframes.
Partnerships

Continued to enhance core, state-of-the-art target identification and drug design capabilities through synergistic strategic partnerships:
o Joint research collaboration with e-Therapeutics plc (AIM:ETX) to identify novel mechanistic insights in Parkinson’s Disease was announced in May 2018.
Senior appointments

Eva-Lotta Allan, Non-Executive Chairman, and Natalie Walter, Non-Executive Director, were appointed to the Board of Directors in July 2018.
Dr Clive Dix, CEO of C4X Discovery, said: "C4X Discovery has had a transformational year in 2018, underlined by the successful completion of our pre-clinical licensing deal with Indivior in March. This pivotal milestone validated our business model. Our pipeline continues to progress, with NRF-2 entering a formal partnering process and excellent in vivo data on IL-17 moving this programme towards partnering. This maturing pipeline, combined with our enhanced commercial capabilities and our innovative collaborations with multiple partners, positions us well to carry out our strategy of becoming the world’s most productive drug discovery engine and delivering returns to our shareholders."

A copy of the final results presentation given by Clive Dix (Chief Executive Officer) will be released later this morning on the Group’s website at www.c4xdiscovery.com.

Analyst conference call today

Dr Clive Dix, Chief Executive Officer, will present the results at 11:30am GMT on 21 November 2018 during a live conference call. A copy of the results presentation will be released later this morning on the Company website at www.c4xdiscovery.com.

FDA approves new treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia

On November 21, 2018 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that it approved Daurismo (glasdegib) tablets to be used in combination with low-dose cytarabine (LDAC), a type of chemotherapy, for the treatment of newly-diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults who are 75 years of age or older or who have other chronic health conditions or diseases (comorbidities) that may preclude the use of intensive chemotherapy (Press release, US FDA, NOV 21, 2018, View Source [SID1234531586]).

"Intensive chemotherapy is usually used to control AML, but many adults with AML are unable to have intensive chemotherapy because of its toxicities. Today’s approval gives health care providers another tool to use in the treatment of AML patients with various, unique needs. Clinical trials showed that overall survival was improved using Daurismo in combination with LDAC compared to LDAC alone for patients who would not tolerate intensive chemotherapy," said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and acting director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

AML is a rapidly progressing cancer that forms in the bone marrow and results in an increased number of abnormal white blood cells in the bloodstream and bone marrow. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health estimates that in 2018, approximately 19,520 people will be diagnosed with AML and approximately 10,670 patients with AML will die of the disease. Almost half of the adults diagnosed with AML are not treated with intensive chemotherapy because of comorbidities and chemotherapy related toxicities.

The efficacy of Daurismo was studied in a randomized clinical trial in which 111 adult patients with newly diagnosed AML were treated with either Daurismo in combination with LDAC or LDAC alone. The trial measured overall survival (OS) from the date of randomization to death from any cause. Results demonstrated a significant improvement in OS in patients treated with Daurismo. The median OS was 8.3 months for patients treated with Daurismo plus LDAC compared with 4.3 months for patients treated with LDAC only.

Common side effects reported by patients receiving Daurismo in clinical trials include low red blood cell count (anemia), tiredness (fatigue), bleeding (hemorrhage), fever with low white blood cell count (febrile neutropenia), muscle pain, nausea, swelling of the arms or legs (edema), low platelet counts (thrombocytopenia), shortness of breath (dyspnea), decreased appetite, distorted taste (dysgeusia), pain or sores in the mouth or throat (mucositis), constipation and rash.

The prescribing information for Daurismo includes a Boxed Warning to advise health care professionals and patients about the risk of embryo-fetal death or severe birth defects. Daurismo should not be used during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Pregnancy testing should be conducted in females of reproductive age prior to initiation of Daurismo treatment and effective contraception should be used during treatment and for at least 30 days after the last dose. The Boxed Warning also advises male patients of the potential risk of drug exposure through semen and to use condoms with a pregnant partner or a female partner that could become pregnant both during treatment and for at least 30 days after the last dose. Daurismo must be dispensed with a patient Medication Guide that describes important information about the drug’s uses and risks. Patients should also be advised not to donate blood or blood products during treatment. Health care providers should also monitor patients for changes in the electrical activity of the heart, called QT prolongation.

The FDA granted this application Priority Review designation. Daurismo also received Orphan Drug designation, which provides incentives to assist and encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases.

The FDA granted the approval of Daurismo to Pfizer.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

Nicox to present at the 30th Annual Piper Jaffray Healthcare conference

On November 21, 2018 Nicox SA (Euronext Paris: FR0013018124, COX), an international ophthalmology company, reported that Michele Garufi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nicox, will present at the 30th Annual Piper Jaffray Healthcare Conference on Tuesday November 27, 2018 at 11:30 am ET (Press release, NicOx, NOV 21, 2018, View Source [SID1234531573]). The conference is being held at the Lotte New York Palace in New York.

A live webcast of the presentation will be available on Nicox website (www.nicox.com) in the "Presentations & Events" section. A replay of the webcast will be also archived.

Mr Garufi will be available for one-on-one meetings at the conference

Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement

On November 21, 2018, Tocagen Inc. (the "Company") reported that it has entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement (the "Agreement") with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ("Citigroup"), pursuant to which the Company may sell and issue shares of its common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $30,000,000 (the "Shares") from time to time through Citigroup, as the Company’s sales agent (the "ATM Offering") (Filing, 8-K, Tocagen, NOV 21, 2018, View Source [SID1234531571]). The Company has no obligation to sell any of the Shares, and may at any time suspend offers under the Agreement or terminate the Agreement.

Sales of the Shares, if any, under the Agreement may be made in transactions that are deemed to be "at-the-market" equity offerings as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including sales made by means of ordinary brokers’ transactions, including on The Nasdaq Stock Market. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, Citigroup will use its reasonable efforts to sell the Shares from time to time based upon the Company’s instructions (including any price, time or size limits or other parameters or conditions the Company may impose). The Company will pay Citigroup a commission of up to 3.0% of the gross sales price of any Shares sold under the Agreement. The Company has also provided Citigroup with customary indemnification rights and has agreed to reimburse Citigroup for certain specified expenses up to $50,000.

The Shares will be offered and sold pursuant to the Company’s shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-224880). On November 21, 2018, the Company filed a prospectus supplement relating to the ATM Offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company may also sell Shares to Citigroup as principal for its own account at a price agreed upon at the time of the sale, subject to the Company entering into a separate terms agreement with Citigroup for any such sale.

The description of the Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Agreement, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

The legal opinion of Cooley LLP relating to the shares of common stock being offered pursuant to the Agreement is filed as Exhibit 5.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

This Current Report on Form 8-K shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.