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LPBI Update – Newsletter #1, February 2020

Posted in 3D Printing for Medical Application, Cancer and Current Therapeutics, Cancer Genomics, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, tagged bioprinting, genomics, oncology expertise, Personalized medicine, Venture capital on January 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Reporter: Gail S. Thornton, M.A.

LPBI Update

Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group, Newsletter #1 – February 2020

Welcome to the premier issue of LPBI Group News, where readers can find relevant news and updates about science, business and medical innovation. This newsletter is distributed as a service for our readers.

The Conference Forum Highlights Immuno-Oncology 360° in New York

The Conference Forum is hosting Immuno-Oncology 360°, which reports on current data and developments of immuno-oncology in the science and business communities. The summit takes place on February 26-28 at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York.

Please visit www.io360summit.com to register and use code LPBI20 for a 20% discount.

Ahead of the conference, Immuno-Oncology 360° has created a series celebrating their women speakers in the work they are doing to fight cancer. To read the series, visit: https://theconferenceforum.org/conferences/immuno-oncology-360/io360%cb%9a-leadership-interviews/

This information is published in conjunction with the Immuno-Oncology 360° Summit.

Venture Summit Attracts Top Innovators in Silicon Valley

Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group is one of the sponsors of Venture Summit | West, “Where Innovation Meets Capital.”

The meeting will be held on March 23-24 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Silicon Valley.

Special offer: Register Now & Save $450 off (Use discount code “LPBI-VIP”)

For more information, please visit: https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2019/12/17/venture-summit-west-where-innovation-meets-capital-march-23rd-24th-2020-santa-clara-convention-center-silicon-valley/

e-Proceedings of 15th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at Harvard Medical School

The 15^th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at Harvard Medical School, Boston last year [November 13-14, 2019], entitled The Paradigm Evolves, explored the science, business and policy issues facing personalized medicine. In today’s world, scientists need to understand how molecular diagnostics augmented by artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital health empowers physicians and patients in their health care decisions.

Please visit for LPBI Group coverage of the meeting, including social media activities at the conference:

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2019/07/19/15th-annual-personalized-medicine-conference-at-harvard-medical-school-the-paradigm-evolves-november-13-14-2019-%e2%80%a2-harvard-medical-school-boston-ma/

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2019/11/15/tweets-and-retweets-by-aviva1950-and-by-pharma_bi-for-15th-annual-personalized-medicine-conference-at-harvard-medical-school-the-paradigm-evolves-november-13-14-2019-%e2%80%a2/

3D Medical BioPrinting Technology Featured in Podcast

LPBI Group leaders, Aviva Lev-Ari, Ph.D., R.N., Stephen Williams, Ph.D., and Irina Robu, Ph.D., spoke with Partners in Health and Biz, a half-hour audio podcast that reaches 40,000 listeners, about the topic of 3D Medical BioPrinting Technology: A Revolution in Medicine.

Please click on this link to hear the podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laozyrfi29c.

The topic is also the title of a recently offered e-book by the LPBI Group on 3D BioPrinting, available on Amazon/Kindle Direct [https://www.amazon.com/Medical-BioPrinting-Technologies-Patient-centered-Patient-Centered-ebook/dp/B078QVDV2W].

The 3D BioPrinting technology is being used to develop advanced medical practices that will help with previously difficult processes, such as delivering drugs via micro-robots, targeting specific cancer cells and even assisting in difficult eye operations.

The table of contents in this book includes: Chapter 1: 3D Bioprinting: Latest Innovations in a Forty year-old Technology. Chapter 2: LPBI Initiative on 3D BioPrinting, Chapter 3: Cardiovascular BioPrinting, Chapter 4: Medical and Surgical Repairs – Advances in R&D Research, Chapter 5: Organ on a Chip, Chapter 6: FDA Regulatory Technology Issues, Chapter 7: DNA Origami, Chapter 8: Aptamers and 3D Scaffold Binding, Chapter 9: Advances and Future Prospects, Chapter 10: BioInks and MEMS, Chapter 11: BioMedical MEMS, Chapter 12: 3D Solid Organ Printing and Chapter 13: Medical 3D Printing: Sources and Trade Groups – List of Secondary Material.

New e-Book: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS & BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology

LPBI Group’s latest e-book entitled, Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS & BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology, offers the reader content curation with embedded videos and audio podcasts, real-time conference e-Proceedings by LPBI’s scientists and professors and archived tweets of quotes from speakers at leading biotechnology conferences.

Please click on this link on Amazon/Kindle Direct: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08385KF87

The book integrates in a single volume four distinct perspectives: basic science, technologies and methodologies, clinical aspects and business and legal aspects of genomics research. “The materials in this book represents the scientific frontier in Biological Sciences and Medicine related to the genomics aspects of disease onset,” said Aviva Lev-Ari, Ph.D., R.N., and founder of LPBI Group.

The book addresses:

aspects of life: the Cell, the Organ, the Human Body and Human Populations;
methodologies of genomic data analysis: Next Generation Sequencing, Gene Editing, AI, Single Cell Genomics, Evolution Biology Genomics, Simulation Modeling in Genomics, Genotypes and Phenotypes Modeling, measurement of Epigenomics effects on disease, and developments in Pharmaco-Genomics.

Additionally, artificial Intelligence in medicine is covered in Part 3 of the e-Book, which represents the frontier in this emerging field, with topics, such as the science, technologies and methodologies, clinical aspects, business and legal implications as well as the latest machine learning algorithms harnessed for medical diagnosis.

This e-book is significant because it:

contains 326 articles on topics, such as gene editing, bioinformatics and genome ontology;
incorporates 74 e-Proceedings created in real time by the Book’s authors and editors
includes four collections of Tweets representing quotes from speakers at global leading conferences on Genomics
has 13 locations of Videos and Audio Podcasts that serve to enrich the e-Reader’s experience.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please send them to Aviva Lev-Ari at avivalev-ari@alum.berkeley.edu.

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Avvinity will have exclusive rights in oncology to use Alphamer therapeutic platform, invented by a Nobel Laureate and developed by Centauri: A Case of a Joint Venture Model

Posted in BioIT: BioInformatics, BioIT: BioInformatics, NGS, Clinical & Translational, Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics, Clinical Genomics, Cancer Informatics, BioTechnology - Venture Creation, BioTechnology - Venture Creation, Venture Capital, CANCER BIOLOGY & Innovations in Cancer Therapy, Cancer Informatics, Genetics & Innovations in Treatment, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Genome Biology, Genomic Expression, tagged Alphamer therapeutic platform, cell therapy based therapeutics, gene editing technology platform, immuno-oncology therapeutics, oncology expertise, synthetic lethality on March 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Avvinity will have exclusive rights in oncology to use Alphamer therapeutic platform, invented by a Nobel Laureate and developed by Centauri: A Case of a Joint Venture Model

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Horizon Discovery Group plc Enters Immuno-Oncology Therapeutic Development and Forms Joint Venture with Centauri Therapeutics Limited

· Newly formed company Avvinity Therapeutics will be jointly managed by Horizon, via its Research Biotech business, and Centauri

· Joint venture creates a differentiated new player in the rapidly growing immuno-oncology market, currently valued at £25 billion

· Avvinity will have exclusive rights in oncology to use Alphamer therapeutic platform, invented by a Nobel Laureate and developed by Centauri

· Horizon to invest up to £5.3 million, with an initial outlay of £2.5 million, in a joint venture to identify novel immuno-oncology therapeutics

· Horizon will contribute its gene editing technology platform and oncology expertise and will also benefit from service revenues from the joint venture

· Formation of the joint venture represents a strategic move by Horizon to capture the upside potential of its IP, platform technologies and capabilities in immuno-oncology, synthetic lethality and cell therapy based therapeutics

Horizon will host a conference call today at 09:30 GMT to discuss this news. To access the live conference call please use the dial-in details below. The presentation will be made available shortly before the call at:https://www.horizondiscovery.com/about-us/investor-relations/corporate-videos-and-presentations.

Cambridge, UK, 2 March 2016: Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) (“Horizon” or “the Company”), the leading international gene editing company, announces today that it has formed an immuno-oncology joint venture, Avvinity Therapeutics (“Avvinity”), with Centauri Therapeutics Limited (“Centauri”), a UK-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel molecules targeting life-threatening infectious diseases. This transaction represents part of Horizon’s previously outlined strategy to invest up to £10 million, further leveraged by its IP, technology platforms and know-how, to identify the next generation of molecular and cellular cancer therapeutics.

Avvinity will combine Horizon’s gene editing, immunology, oncology and drug discovery capabilities with Centauri’s Alphamer technology to provide a powerful and proprietary platform to discover and develop novel immuno-oncology therapeutics, for both solid tumours and leukaemias. Avvinity will be targeting an immuno-oncology market currently worth £25 billion per year and expected to grow to approximately £50 billion per year by 2020.⁽¹⁾

Under the terms of this agreement, Horizon will out-license certain background intellectual property relating to its translational genomics and drug discovery platforms, and will invest up to £5.3 million over two tranches with the first tranche of £2.5m committed, and the second to be committed at Horizon’s discretion pending the progress of three development programs. Centauri will license background IP and expertise on its Alphamer technology to Avvinity, which will have exclusivity for the field of oncology for an initial three year period and can be extended via the issue of further equity concurrently with the raise of new investment.

Avvinity will be managed jointly by Horizon and Centauri, and based on the investment of IP, technology and the first tranche of funding; Horizon will own 33% of Avvinity’s equity, representing 50% of the most-preferred class of voting shares. Upon completion of the 2^nd tranche of funding Horizon will own 49.99% of Avvinity’s equity, representing 50% of the most-preferred class of voting shares. The joint venture will be managed within Horizon as part of the Company’s Research Biotech business (formerly Horizon’s Leveraged business unit).

Neither Horizon nor Centauri will be obliged to provide further funding to Avvinity, though both retain pre-emption rights and may elect to participate in future funding rounds. Subject to achieving key development milestones, Avvinity plans to raise significant new external investment to take its innovative drugs into clinical trials, at which time the value of Horizon’s stake in the business would be highly-material.

Dr. Darrin M. Disley, Chief Executive Officer, President Research Biotech of Horizon Discovery Group plc, said: “By combining Horizon’s deep understanding of the genetic basis of cancer alongside its gene editing, drug discovery and emerging immuno-oncology toolbox, with Centauri’s unique Alphamer technology and knowledge of its use, we have created an exciting new company to spearhead Horizon’s move into targeted therapeutic development. We are confident this joint venture will break new ground in the development of immunotherapies, and bring significant value creation to Horizon shareholders.

“The establishment of Avvinity is in line with our hybrid Research Biotech strategy to not only work with partners but also take advantage of the therapeutic upside potential of the most exciting new areas of personalised and genomic medicine in a risk-managed way.”

Dr. Mike Westby, Chief Executive Officer of Centauri Therapeutics Limited, commented: “Alphamers are an entirely novel way to target disease and represent an exciting new approach for recruitment of host immunity. At Centauri we have invested to build the Alphamer platform and assembled the drug discovery expertise necessary to exploit the platform in infectious diseases. Through this joint venture with Horizon, we look forward to applying our combined know-how and capabilities to develop Alphamers as important new immuno-oncology medicines, particularly for cancer indications that have proven intractable to date.”

More information on Avvinity can be found at www.avvinity.com.

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

Alphamer technology is based on chemically synthesized molecules that redirect naturally occurring antibodies in the human immune system to selected pathogens or cancer cells. One end of a molecule binds a cell-surface target on a pathogen or cancer cell using an aptamer, while the other end presents specific epitopes that attach to the circulating antibodies. The result of this redirection is cell death and subsequent recruitment of the T-Cell mediated pathways to clear the body of the pathogen or cancer cell.

Alphamers promise key advantages over conventional antibody and antibody-drug conjugate molecules in immuno-oncology applications, including the ability to target cancers driven by both wild type (“normal”) gene overexpression as well as mutant (”abnormal”) gene overexpression, and by exhibiting a short half-life in the body yielding reduced toxicity and systemic side-effects. Considerable investment has been made in the Alphamer technology over the past four years and its ability to engage the immune system to destroy bacteria has been confirmed.⁽²⁾

Platform technologies based around alternative immuno-oncology approaches have secured high valuations once early positive results in clinical trials have been achieved: Amgen’s 2012 acquisition of Micromet valued Micromet at $1.16b, and in 2013, Spirogen was acquired by AstraZeneca for up to $440m.

References:

1. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global–usa-cancer-immunotherapy-market-analysis-2015—forecasts-to-2020-300157219.html

2. Retargeting pre-existing human antibodies to a bacterial pathogen with an alpha-Gal conjugated aptamer. Kristian SA, Hwang JH, Hall B, Leire E, Iacomini J, Old R, Galili U, Roberts C, Mullis KB, Westby M, Nizet V. J Mol Med (Berl). 2015 Jun;93(6):619-31

Conference call:

A conference call for analysts, investors and media will take place at 09:30 GMT today hosted by Darrin Disley, Chief Executive Officer and President, Research Biotech, and Richard Vellacott, Chief Financial Officer, who will run through a presentation followed by a Q&A session. The presentation will be made available shortly before the call at: https://www.horizondiscovery.com/about-us/investor-relations/corporate-videos-and-presentations.

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are:

UK: 08006940257

Standard International: +44 (0) 1452 555566

Conference call ID: 62637628

A replay of the call is available approximately four hours after the call concludes. For those unable to attend it live, or who would like to listen to it again, call +44 (0)1452550000 and quote the conference call ID: 62637628.

For further information, please contact:

Horizon Discovery Group plc

Dr. Darrin Disley CEO / Richard Vellacott CFO

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 655580

Centauri Therapeutics Limited

Dr. Mike Westby CEO

Tel +44 (0) 1304 728611

Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media)

Katie Odgaard

Tel: +44 (0)7787 502 947

Email: katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com

Consilium Strategic Communications (Financial Media and Investor Relations)

Amber Fennell / Jessica Hodgson / Matthew Neal / Laura Thornton

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701

Email: horizon@consilium-comms.com

Panmure Gordon & Co. (NOMAD)

Corporate Finance: Freddy Crossley / Duncan Monteith / Fabien Holler

Broking: Tom Salvesen

Tel: +44 20 7886 2500

About Horizon Discovery Group plc www.horizondiscovery.com/

Horizon is a leading international gene-editing company that supplies products, services and research programmes that enable genomics research and the development of personalised and genomic medicines. Horizon has a diverse and global customer base of over 1,400 unique organisations across more than 50 countries, including major pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic companies as well as leading academic research centres. The Group supplies its products and services into multiple markets, estimated to total in excess of £29 billion in 2015.

Horizon’s core capabilities are built around its proprietary translational genomics platform, a highly precise and flexible suite of gene editing tools (rAAV, ZFN and CRISPR) able to alter almost any gene sequence in human or mammalian cell-lines.

Horizon offers over 23,000 catalogue products, almost all of which are based on the application of gene editing to generate in vitro and in-vivo models that accurately model the disease-causing genetic anomalies found in diseases like cancer. These ‘patients-in-a-test-tube’ are being used by customers to: understand the genetic drivers of disease; identify targets of therapeutic intervention that can moderate or correct these genetic drivers; develop novel medicines and companion diagnostic tests that result in the right patient getting the right medicine.

Horizon also provides custom in vitro and in vivo disease model generation services, biopharmaceutical manufacturing cell lines and generation services, quantitative molecular reference standards and contract research and custom screening services.

In addition, Horizon through its Research Biotech business deploys the Company’s intellectual property, gene-editing platform, products, services and know-how in cancer research, drug discovery and immunology to develop its immuno-oncology, synthetic lethality and cell therapy platforms which aim to deliver novel drug treatments into the pharmaceutical pipeline.

Horizon is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market under the ticker “HZD”. For further information please visit: www.horizondiscovery.com.

About Centauri Therapeutics Ltd www.centauritherapeutics.com

Centauri Therapeutics is a UK-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel molecules targeting life threatening diseases.

Centauri Therapeutics has established a core R&D facility at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent, with an experienced team of industry scientists focused on discovery, optimisation and development of novel Alphamers targeting acute hospital acquired infections. The company is currently focussed on the development of Alphamers against anti-microbial resistant (AMR) pathogens, which pose an increasing threat to human health.

Centauri Therapeutics’ Executive team is led by Mike Westby, Chief Executive Officer (previously Pfizer, Roche) and Stuart Lawson, Chief Financial Officer (CEO of the private investment group Animatrix Capital LLP, and previously KPMG). Clive Dix is Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board (previously Convergence Pharmaceuticals, PowderMed, PowderJect, Glaxo Wellcome).

SOURCE

From: “Katie Odgaard” <katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com>

Date: March 2, 2016 at 2:12:41 AM EST

To: “avivalev-ari@alum.berkeley.edu” <avivalev-ari@alum.berkeley.edu>

Subject: Horizon Discovery Group plc Enters Immuno-Oncology Therapeutic Development and Forms Joint Venture with Centauri Therapeutics Limited

Reply-To: katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com