CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (Checkmate) announced that it had initiated treatment with CMP-001 combined with atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ®) in a Phase 1b clinical trial of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and disease progression on prior anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.

CMP-001 is designed to activate innate immunity to convert “uninflamed” tumors, which generally do not respond to anti-PD-1/L1 therapy, into “inflamed” tumors, which are responsive to PD-1 inhibition. When used in combination with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, CMP-001 has the potential to increase the number of cancer patients who respond to checkpoint inhibitor therapies and to increase the magnitude and duration of the antitumor responses, possibly providing added clinical benefit.

“We are pleased to be advancing the clinical development of CMP-001 into a second tumor type,” stated Art Krieg, founder and CEO of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. “The mechanism of action of CMP-001 should apply across most or all tumor types, and so we expect CMP-001 to reverse PD-1 resistance in NSCLC, just as we reported for PD-1 resistant advanced melanoma last week at the 2018 American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Chicago,” noted Dr. Krieg.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Surface Oncology, Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing next-generation antibody therapies that target the tumor microenvironment, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,200,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $15.00 per share. In addition, Surface has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,080,000 additional shares of common stock at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discount. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses, are expected to be $108.0 million, excluding any proceeds from the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. Surface’s common stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol “SURF” on April 19, 2018. All of the shares are being offered by Surface.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Cowen and Company, LLC and Evercore Group L.L.C. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

In addition to the shares sold in the public offering, Surface announced the concurrent sale of an additional 766,666 shares at the initial offering price of $15.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $11.5 million, in a private placement to Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. The sale of these shares will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and will be subject to a 180-day lock-up agreement.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (Checkmate) announced the first presentation of data from an ongoing Phase 1b study evaluating CMP-001, Checkmate’s Toll like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, in combination with pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA®), an anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with advanced melanoma resistant to prior anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibition. CMP-001 is designed to activate innate immunity to convert “uninflamed” tumors, which generally do not respond to anti-PD-1 therapy, into “inflamed” tumors, which are PD-1 responsive. Data were presented in the clinical trials plenary session on Tuesday, April 17 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Chicago by principal investigator Mohammed Milhem, MBBS, clinical professor of internal medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City.

The combination of CMP-001 and pembrolizumab was generally well tolerated and induced deep and durable clinical responses with systemic regression of noninjected cutaneous, nodal, hepatic, and splenic metastases in patients who had progressed on a median of 2 prior therapies. “The abscopal effect observed in these patients is a hallmark of successful intratumoral immunotherapy treatment,” said Dr. Milhem. “In this patient population, pembrolizumab alone would be unlikely to provide more than a 7% response rate. If the current results are confirmed, it appears that this combination could offer an effective treatment option for patients with advanced melanoma who are not responsive to pembrolizumab,” he noted.

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• Agreement strengthens Orchard’s position as a global leader in gene therapy for rare diseases
• GSK takes 19.9% equity stake in Orchard and seat on board 

LONDON, April 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GSK and Orchard Therapeutics today announced a strategic agreement, under which GSK will transfer its portfolio of approved and investigational rare disease gene therapies to Orchard, securing the continued development of the programmes and access for patients. This acquisition strengthens Orchard’s position as a global leader in gene therapy for rare diseases. GSK will continue to invest in the development of its platform capabilities in cell and gene therapies, with a focus on oncology.

Under the agreement, GSK will become an investor in Orchard Therapeutics, receiving a 19.9% equity stake along with a seat on the company’s board. GSK will also receive financial considerations in the form of royalties and commercial milestone payments related to the acquired portfolio. GSK and Orchard will exchange manufacturing, technical and commercial insights and learnings on the development of gene therapy medicines to ensure the success of the assets.

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Cambridge, UK and Indianapolis, US – Acacia Pharma Group plc (“Acacia Pharma”, the “Company” or the “Group”), (EURONEXT: ACPH), a hospital pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of new nausea & vomiting treatments for surgical and cancer patients, has made substantial progress in expanding its US commercial operations for the intended launch of intravenous amisulpride (BAREMSIS®) with four key appointments. The new hires bring significant and relevant commercial experience in launching and marketing hospital pharmaceutical products in the US and have been recruited, as planned, ahead of the target PDUFA date for BAREMSIS of 5 October 2018.

Mike Bolinder, Chief Commercial Officer of the Group’s US subsidiary, Acacia Pharma, Inc., commented: “Filling these key roles with these experienced leaders with such relevant experience provides the Group with a strong foundation for the intended US commercialisation of BAREMSIS. We are delighted to welcome them all to the team and look forward to getting our launch preparations underway. It is a great achievement for Acacia Pharma to attract such high calibre professionals, and to deliver the first key element of our commercialisation strategy so soon after completing our recent Initial Global Offering.”

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