Kadmon Corporation Announces NIH Agreement to Evaluate Gene Therapy Program Kadmon Corporation, LLC, announced that it has established a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, to develop an Adeno-associated virus vector containing the human aquaporin-1 gene for the treatment of xerostomia resulting from the use of ionizing radiation in the treatment of head and neck cancer. [Kadmon Corporation, LLC] Press Release CCRM and Stem Cells Australia Agree to Collaborate in the Global Translation of Stem Cell Research The Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) and the Stem Cells Australia consortium have entered into a memorandum of understanding to work together to increase the translation of stem cell research in the two countries. [Stem Cells Australia] Press Release Celsion Corporation to Acquire EGEN, Inc. Celsion Corporation and EGEN, Inc. announced the signing of a definitive asset purchase agreement in which Celsion will acquire substantially all of the assets of EGEN, including its Phase Ib DNA-based immunotherapy product candidate EGEN-001 and its therapeutic platform technologies, TheraPlas™ for delivery of DNA and mRNA, TheraSilence™ for delivery of RNA, and RAST™ for Cell Enabled Expression and Secretion of RNA. [Celsion Corporation] Press Release Aratana Therapeutics Expands Pain Franchise with Novel Regenerative Cell Therapy for Treating Osteoarthritis Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. announced it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Vet-Stem, Inc., for its novel, allogeneic stem cell therapy technology. [Aratana Therapeutics, Inc.] Press Release Grant Supports Innovative Immunotherapy Research at Baylor Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Cancer Center and Center for Cell and Gene Therapy researcher Dr. Stephen Gottschalk has received a $250,000 Innovation Award from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to support his work to find innovative new treatments for childhood cancer. Gottschalk’s Innovation Award will support his research on cancer treatments using immunotherapy. [Baylor College of Medicine] Press Release Response Genetics Launches New Test for Cancer Immunotherapy Drug Development Response Genetics, Inc. announced the availability of new testing capabilities to advance cancer immunotherapy clinical development. The Immuno-Oncology assay, which runs on HTG Molecular’s Edge System, is designed to measure the RNA expression of 26 commonly investigated immunotherapy related genes enabling screening for response to immunoregulatory pathways. [GlobeNewswire, Inc.] Press Release Alnylam Announces United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Issues Patent Covering RNAi Therapeutics for the Treatment of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Infection Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the USPTO has issued a new patent (U.S. patent no. 8,618,277) in the company’s McSwiggen patent estate. The McSwiggen patent estate broadly describes chemical modifications of RNAi therapeutics needed to achieve “drug-like” properties in siRNA, the molecules that mediate RNAi. [Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release TxCell Receives Certificate of GMP Compliance for Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility in France TxCell SA announced that it has been granted Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance for its cell therapy manufacturing facility in Besançon, France. [TxCell SA] Press Release Quest PharmaTech Completes Patient Enrollment in Phase IIb Study of Oregovomab for the Immunotherapy of Ovarian Cancer Quest PharmaTech Inc. reports that patient enrollment has been completed in the company’s Phase IIb clinical trial of its lead immunotherapy product candidate oregovomab for the treatment of ovarian cancer. [Quest PharmaTech Inc.] Press Release Inovio Pharmaceuticals Initiates Immune Therapy Trial for Head & Neck Cancer Caused by HPV Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has initiated a Phase I/IIa clinical trial to evaluate safety, immunogenicity and clinical responses of its immunotherapy product, INO-3112, in treating human papillomavirus (HPV)- associated head and neck cancer. [Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release |