On February 13, 2018 Celyad (Euronext Brussels and Paris, and NASDAQ: CYAD), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported that it will host a Key Opinion Leader luncheon on the topic of CYAD-01 (CAR-T NKG2D) cell therapy for the treatment of blood cancers in New York City on Tuesday, February 20 (Press release, Celyad, FEB 13, 2018, View Source [SID1234532519]).
The meeting will feature a presentation by Key Opinion Leader Marco Davila, MD, PhD (Moffitt Cancer Center), who will discuss the evolving treatment landscape of CAR-T therapies in development, as well as the unmet medical need for treating patients with blood cancers, including Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Dr. Davila will be available to answer questions at the conclusion of the event.

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Celyad’s management team will provide details about the clinical strategy of its lead candidate, CYAD-01, an autologous CAR-T NKG2D cell therapy in clinical development for patients with hematological and solid cancers.

Marco Davila, MD, PhD is an Associate Member of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Department at the Moffitt Cancer Center and an Associate Professor of Oncologic Sciences at the University of South Florida. His research is dedicated to developing gene-engineered cell therapies that target cancer cells in animal models of cancer. The goal of this research is to identify optimal cell therapies that can then be evaluated in cancer patients. He has also been the Principal Investigator on several clinical trials using genetically engineered T-cells targeted against malignant B cells. Dr. Davila’s laboratory at the Moffitt Cancer Center is interested in developing further chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that can target hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. His work has been published in many peer-reviewed medical journals.

This event is intended for institutional investors, sell-side analysts, investment bankers, and business development professionals only. Please RSVP in advance if you plan to attend, as space is limited. For those who are unable to attend in person, a live webcast and replay will be accessible here.

Neurocrine Biosciences has filed a 10-K – Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405] with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .

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On February 13, 2018 Hutchison China MediTech Limited ("Chi-Med") (AIM/Nasdaq: HCM) reported it has completed patient enrollment of FALUCA, its Phase III pivotal trial of fruquintinib in advanced, third-line, non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC") patients in China (Press release, Hutchison China MediTech, FEB 13, 2018, View Source [SID1234523945]). Fruquintinib is a highly selective and potent oral inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors ("VEGFR") 1, 2 and 3, that has met its primary endpoint in several Phase II and III clinical trials in China for the treatment of lung, colorectal and gastric cancers. Top-line FALUCA data is expected to be reported in late 2018 when the overall survival ("OS") data is mature and, subject to a positive outcome, would be followed by a second New Drug Application ("NDA") submission thereafter. Fruquintinib’s first NDA, for the treatment of colorectal cancer, was submitted to the China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA") in June 2017.

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About Fruquintinib

Fruquintinib (HMPL-013) is a highly selective small molecule drug candidate that has been shown to inhibit VEGFR 24 hours a day via an oral dose, with lower off-target toxicities compared to other targeted therapies. Its tolerability, along with its clean drug-drug interaction profile demonstrated to date, may enable rational combination with other cancer therapies such as in our ongoing clinical trials of fruquintinib in combination with chemotherapy and targeted therapy. VEGFR plays a pivotal role in tumor-related angiogenesis.

About FALUCA

FALUCA is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center, Phase III registration study of fruquintinib targeted at treating patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC, who have failed two lines of systemic chemotherapy. Patients were randomised at a 2:1 ratio to receive either 5mg of fruquintinib orally once per day, on a three-weeks-on / one-week-off cycle, plus best supportive care ("BSC"); or placebo plus BSC. Randomization was stratified by EGFR gene status and history of treatment by VEGF inhibitors. The primary endpoint is OS, with secondary endpoints including progression free survival ("PFS"), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and duration of response (DoR). Additional details about this study can be found at clinicaltrials.gov, using identifier NCT02691299.

It was initiated following a similar Phase II clinical trial in 91 third-line NSCLC patients that succeeded in meeting its primary efficacy endpoint of PFS, with no unexpected safety issues. Results were highlighted in an oral presentation at the 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer on December 6, 2016 (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02590965)

Other Fruquintinib Development Programs

Lung cancer in China: Along with FALUCA, fruquintinib is concurrently being studied in a Phase II study in combination with Iressa (gefitinib) in first-line setting for patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02976116). Preliminary results were highlighted in an oral presentation at the 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer on October 16, 2017.

Colorectal cancer in China: The CFDA acknowledged acceptance of the NDA for fruquintinib for the treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer ("CRC") in June 2017. Fruquintinib was subsequently awarded priority review status in view of its significant clinical value, according to a CFDA announcement in September 2017. The NDA is supported by data from the successful FRESCO study, a Phase III pivotal registration trial of fruquintinib in 416 patients with CRC in China, which was highlighted in an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting held on June 5, 2017 (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02314819). The FRESCO study followed an initial Phase I trial in 40 solid tumor patients, a Phase Ib study in 62 CRC patients, and a Phase II clinical trial in 71 CRC patients.

Gastric cancer in China: In October 2017, Chi-Med initiated a pivotal Phase III clinical trial of fruquintinib in combination with Taxol (paclitaxel), known as the FRUTIGA study, for the treatment of over 500 patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma who have progressed after first-line standard chemotherapy (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03223376). The FRUTIGA study followed a Phase I/II clinical trial in 34 patients that demonstrated that combination therapy of fruquintinib and Taxol in such patients was generally well-tolerated with promising tumor response (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02415023).

In China, fruquintinib is jointly developed with Eli Lilly and Company.

United States bridging trial: In December 2017, Chi-Med initiated a multi-center, open-label, Phase I clinical study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of fruquintinib in U.S. patients with advanced solid tumors. Additional details about this study may be found at clinicaltrials.gov, using identifier NCT03251378.

On February 13, 2018 ERYTECH Pharma (Euronext: ERYP- Nasdaq: ERYP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies by encapsulating therapeutic drug substances inside red blood cells, reported the selection of Triple Negative Breast Cancer as the next target indication for broadening the scope of eryaspase (GRASPA) development in solid tumors (Press release, ERYtech Pharma, FEB 13, 2018, View Source [SID1234523942]).

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L-asparaginase is a cornerstone treatment in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), especially for pediatric patients, but the excessive toxicity of conventional L-asparaginase formulations has limited its use in other indications.

The positive Phase 2b result of eryaspase (L-asparaginase encapsulated in red blood cells) in metastatic pancreatic cancer, reported in 2017, represents, to our knowledge, the first-ever evidence of clinical benefit of an asparaginase-based product in a solid tumor indication. In this 141-patient randomized Phase 2b study, eryaspase in combination with chemotherapy demonstrated a 40% reduction in risk of death rate (HR=0.60; p=0.009) compared to chemotherapy alone.

Following these very encouraging results, ERYTECH conducted a comprehensive evaluation to determine other potential solid-tumor indications for developing eryaspase. Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) has now been selected as the next indication to expand the potential use of eryaspase in solid tumors. TNBC is an aggressive and metabolically active form of breast cancer with high rates of symptomatic metastases. A recent publication in Nature1 supports the hypothesis that restricting availability of asparagine can reduce metastatic progression of cancer cells in breast cancer. One of the most striking observations from our Phase 2b trial in pancreatic cancer was the 40% reduction of new lesions in the eryaspase arm compared to the control arm.

"TNBC is a heterogenous subgroup of breast cancer associated with poor patient outcome and high risk of recurrence compared to other breast cancer subtypes. Aside from BRCA1/2 mutation status, treatment options for TNBC remain limited," commented Iman El-Hariry, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer of ERYTECH. "There is growing evidence of altered metabolism in TNBC. The evaluation of eryaspase in metastatic TNBC provides a promising new therapeutic approach, which capitalizes on reprogramming of the metabolic pathways in this disease."

Gil Beyen, Chairman and CEO of ERYTECH, added, "The selection of TNBC as the second solid tumor indication for evaluating eryaspase anti-tumor activity brings hope for improving the health of these women. The safety profile of eryaspase provides additional rationale for combination with currently existing therapies to increase treatment options in TNBC."

The development in TNBC complements ERYTECH’s pipeline of programs, which focus on the development of therapies that target amino acid metabolism of tumor cells. Set-up activities of a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical study have started and ERYTECH expects to enroll the first patient in Q3 2018.

About Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women globally with nearly 1.8 million new cases diagnosed annually2. It is estimated that over 600,000 women each year are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and Europe in aggregate3. Approximately 10-20% of breast cancers are TNBC, a form of breast cancer that lacks expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and does not overexpress HER24. TNBC is associated with a poorer prognosis when compared to other breast cancer subtypes. As commonly utilized hormone therapy and HER2 targeting agents are not treatment options for women with TNBC, there is significant unmet need for novel therapeutic approaches in this subtype of breast cancer.

On February 13, 2018 Cellectis (Paris:ALCLS) (NASDAQ:CLLS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene-edited allogeneic CAR T-cells (UCART), reported the issuance of two U.S. patents – US 9,855,297 and US 9,890,393 – for the invention of certain uses of RNA-guided endonucleases, such as Cas9 or Cpf1, for the genetic engineering of T-cells (Press release, Cellectis, FEB 13, 2018, View Source [SID1234523941]). The patents came into force on January 2nd, 2018 and February 13th, 2018, respectively.

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Both patents claim methods by which T-cells are gene edited using transient expression of CRISPR/Cas9 components. These inventions are based on the early work initiated by inventors at Cellectis when the CRISPR technology first came to light.

These therapeutic-focused patents follow the grant by the European Patent Office of patent No. EP3004337 for similar inventions and previous intellectual property that Cellectis has obtained over the last two decades for major gene editing technologies including meganucleases, TALEN, MegaTAL and CRISPR.

"Cellectis is a pioneering gene editing company that has always been keen to be at the forefront of all gene editing technologies," said Dr. André Choulika, Cellectis Chairman & CEO. "We have been the first to explore the potential of CRISPR in its early days in various applications, including therapeutics and plants. These early findings ultimately led to the grant of this set of new patents. As such, these patents only reinforce Cellectis’ leadership position in the gene editing industry."

Convinced of their strong value for the future development of engineered CAR T-cells, Cellectis will make these patents available for licensing to companies that are willing to use CRISPR technologies in T-cells. The technical knowledge in these patents could, for example, help users engineer allogeneic CAR T-cells while suppressing genes involved in checkpoint inhibitions, such as PD-1, engineer drug resistance, or remove MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) related genes. The technology could also be used to insert a DNA CAR construct by gene targeting a specific locus in the genome of T-cells.

The inventors of these patents are Dr. André Choulika, Chairman & CEO of Cellectis and one of the pioneers in the development of nuclease-based genome editing technologies; Dr. Philippe Duchateau, Cellectis Chief Scientific Officer and seasoned gene editing expert; and Dr. Laurent Poirot, Cellectis Head of Early Discovery and expert of gene functions in immune cells.

Claims 1 and 2 of US 9,855,297:

1. A method of preparing genetically modified primary T-cells for immunotherapy comprising the steps of: (a) transfecting mRNA encoding an RNA-guided endonuclease into the primary T-cells, wherein the RNA-guided endonuclease is expressed from the transfected m RNA; (b) introducing a DNA vector that encodes a specific guide RNA, wherein the specific guide RNA directs the RNA-guided endonuclease to at least one targeted locus in the T-cell genome into the primary T-cells; (c) cleaving at least one targeted locus in the T-cell genome with the RNA-guided endonuclease; (d) generating a genetic modification at the site of the cleavage; and (e) expanding the resulting genetically modified T-cells.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the RNA-guided endonuclease is Cas9.

Claim 1 of US 9,890,393:

1. A method of preparing T-cells for immunotherapy comprising the step of:

(a) genetically modifying primary T-cells by introduction and/or expression into the cells of at least:

– a RNA-guided endonuclease; and

– a specific guide RNA that directs said endonuclease to at least one targeted locus in the T-cell genome,

wherein said RNA-guided endonuclease is expressed from transfected mRNA;

wherein said RNA-guided endonuclease comprises the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1 or SEQ ID NO:2; and

(b) expanding the resulting cells.