HSP70 heat-shock proteins

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alphageneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Alphageneron” or the “Company”), a privately-held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing autologous and allogeneic Natural Killer (NK) cellular and antibody therapeutics announced that Robert Brooks, JD, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alphageneron, will participate in the ROTH Healthcare Private Company Forum to be hosted virtually on Monday, June 28, 2021. Alphageneron’s CEO, Robert Brooks will speak on the Cancer Panel 2, entitled “Natural Killer Cell Approaches To Eradicate Tumors,” as one of the presenting companies on the panel with “proof of concept” data utilizing NK cells against solid tumors. Mr. Brooks, will discuss a prior completed Phase IIa Clinical Trial with Advanced non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, receiving autologous Hsp70 targeted NK Cell therapy (ENKASTIM™), after radio-chemotherapy, in Germany. The Company is planning a Phase IIa Clinical Combination Trial with Advanced NSCLC patients receiving ENKASTIM™ and PD (L)-1 checkpoint inhibitors, after Standard of Care, in the United States. Alphageneron is also planning a Phase I clinical Combination trial with Metastatic Colorectal cancer with allogeneic donor genetically edited NK cell therapy, (ANKASTIM™) in the United States. Date: Monday January 28, 2021 Time: 12pm-1pm EDT To register for this virtual event click or please contact Gerald Roger, c/o Trinity Capital Advisers Tel. 347-730-5108, or email jerry.alain@trinitycapitaladvisers.com About Alphageneron Alphageneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., is developing targeted autologous and allogeneic natural killer cell (‘NK cell’), Chimeric Antigen Receptor (‘CAR’) NK cell, NK Cell Engager, and Antibody Drug Conjugate, combined with checkpoint inhibitors, and supported by companion diagnostics. The Company’s lead clinical autologous therapy, called ENKASTIM, engineers the patient’s NK cells to target a novel biomarker on cancers, a membrane form of Heat Shock Protein 70 (Hsp70). Membrane Hsp70 is highly expressed by a wide range of cancers, not highly on normal cells. Patients are screened first with our Companion Diagnostic (AP-CDx), an ELISA blood test that measures exosome levels of membrane bound Hsp70 with a simple blood test. A Phase I clinical trial involving twelve (12) patients was conducted in Germany, with metastatic colorectal cancer and non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving our autologous NK Cell therapy, called ENKASTIM, after standard of care (SOC), demonstrated safety and signs of efficacy. A Phase IIa (randomized, controlled) clinical trial involving fourteen (14) patients with advanced (Stage IIIb) NSCLC was conducted in Germany, in the treated group of seven (7) patients whom received ENKASTIM after radio-chemotherapy, five (5) patients had a clinical benefit, including a Complete Response and Partial Response (71%). Pre-clinical animal studies using allogeneic donor NK cell therapy, (ANKASTIM™) against various cancers, demonstrated significant NK cell killing of cancers. We are developing Hsp70 NK Cell Engagers, and Antibody Drug Conjugates to treat cancer. Alphageneron is also developing allogeneic Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) CAR-engineered NK (CAR NK) cells to an undisclosed target. Statements in this message that are not based on historical or current facts, and constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Alphageneron believes that expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on the information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to the future results, approvals or achievements. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, and should assume the Company has no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Keytruda became standard-of-care in non-small cell lung cancer in part thanks to clinical trials that ultimately showed it could boost survival to over two years — or nearly twice as long as chemotherapy. But how long do patients actually live in the real world? A new analysis of 230,000 Medicare patients, published Friday in JAMA, found that the answer was far less: 11.9 months. That’s less, they found, than patients who received either chemotherapy or chemotherapy in combination with Keytruda, who collectively lived for about 12.9 months. Still, neither the study authors nor outside experts say this changes the picture for Keytruda’s benefit, or the question of whether it’s better than chemotherapy. Rather, it points to the subtle ways Keytruda’s powerful effects may be changing cancer treatment, said lead author Kenneth Kehl, a thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For example, he said, it’s possible that because Keytruda is more effective and comes with fewer side effects than chemotherapy, doctors are prescribing it to patients who are older and sicker and, previously, might not have been treated at all. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, said doctors have long known medicare patients perform worse than patients in clinical trials, who are generally healthier. This analysis, though, wasn’t deep enough to get at the exact difference between checkpoint inhibitors and chemotherapy in the real world. “It seems apparent there are not very large effects (beneficial or harmful) across the regimens, which is what most people would anticipate, but this study doesn’t shed further light on the question,” he said in an email, “although it does seem like an important question to ask.” — Jason Mast A Houston biotech earns early backers in quest to turn ‘cold’ tumors ‘hot’ Houston’s Asylia Therapeutics closed a $14.5 million Series A it will use to advance its lead compound into a clinic, a novel antibody the company is developing to “heat up” tumors to drive an immune system response, the biotech said Tuesday. The drug, dubbed ASY-77A, works by targeting the extracellular form of heat shock protein (HSP70), a molecule central to antigen delivery to the immune system, Asylia said. That protein carries tumor-derived antigens to dendritic cells in the body, which then present tumor antigens to other immune cells. HSP70 is also implicated in regulating the activity of macrophages and cytotoxic T-cells, Alysia said, driving a multi-prong approach to fighting tumors. The company has multiple assets under development for cancer and autoimmune diseases, Alysia said. The round was led by Sporos Bioventures. In addition to the financing, Karthik Radhakrishnan, a Houston-based biotech executive and the former CFO of Opexa Therapeutics, has been appointed CEO. — Kyle Blankenship Repurposing biotech launches ophthalmic spinout A New Jersey biotech that repurposes existing drugs is launching a new spinout. Nevakar announced Tuesday the formation of Vyluma, which will operate as a subsidiary of the company at inception. The purpose of the newco is to focus specifically on therapies for ophthalmic diseases, with an emphasis on refractive errors such as childhood myopia, presbyopia, night vision disturbance, and hyperopia, Nevakar said. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for such diseases, and Vyluma will launch with a main pipeline program aimed at slowing the progression of myopia in children called NVK002. It’s currently in Phase III development. Navneet Puri, CEO of Vyluma, said in a statement that spinning out the ophthalmology business “became clear” after Nevakar signed partnerships with companies in Europe and China, as well as strong preclinical data for other ophthalmic candidates. — Max Gelman After Covid-19 treatment failure, Abivax finds success in ulcerative colitis trial Just 2 months after Paris-based Abivax pulled the plug on its clinical trial of ABX464 in high-risk Covid-19 patients, the company has announced that the drug showed positive results in a stud for patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. There were 254 patients treated once a day with ABX464 in the Phase IIb trial. Only 9% of patients dropped out of the study, a number the company said is “remarkable in view of the Covid-19 situation.” Phase III trials will start by the end of 2021, Abivax said in the release. CEO Hartmut Ehrlich called the Phase IIb results a game-changer for UC treatment, and said that the lowest dose of 25 mg was effective across the entire study population. The study confirmed short-term efficacy in patients who don’t typically respond to treatment, as well as patients who have previously been exposed to biological or JAK inhibitor treatments. “Clearly, this promising drug-candidate needs to be taken into phase 3 as quickly as possible, as the medical need for patients suffering from moderate to severe ulcerative colitis is very high and new safe and effective treatments with innovative modes of action are urgently needed,” Séverine Vermeire, the principal investigator of the study said in the release. Researchers had tested the anti-inflammatory to see if it could prevent Covid-19, but a planned interim analysis of data from 306 patients showed no difference between the drug and a placebo, despite being well-tolerated and safe, Abivax noted, and so the trial was scrapped in March. The company had already recruited 500 of its 1,000 intended recruits. The results were shocking to some researchers. — Josh Sullivan

MUNICH & BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Multimmune GmbH and Boulder Diagnostics Inc. announce today the joint development of an HSP70 lateral flow point of care test. Multimmune has discovered that many tumor types display the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) on the cell surface. Multimmune is exploiting this signal for directed immune therapy to cure cancers. The HSP70 lateral flow point of care test is being developed to test for elevated HSP70 levels in the blood of cancer patients and to evaluate the correlation of this occurrence with the presence of the tumor specific HSP70 cell surface marker. Boulder Diagnostics Inc. draws on its leading competence in lateral flow assay development to develop the HSP70 point of care test.