Category: Uncategorized

Tessa developing allogeneic “off-the-shelf” CD30-CAR EBVST cell therapy – TT11X – targeting relapsed or refractory CD30-positive lymphomas

SINGAPORE, Sept 15 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —Tessa Therapeutics Ltd. (Tessa), a clinical-stage cell therapy company developing next-generation cancer treatments for hematological malignancies and solid tumors, today announced that TT11X, the company’s allogeneic “off-the-shelf” CD30.CAR EBVST cell therapy, has been recognized in the “Most Promising Off-the-Shelf Therapies” category at the Asia-Pacific Cell & Gene Therapy Excellence Awards (ACGTEA) 2022. The ACGTEA 2022 Awards were held in conjunction with the 6^th Cell & Gene Therapy World Asia 2022.

TT11X is based on Tessa’s proprietary CD30.CAR-modified Epstein-Barr virus-specific T-cell (EBVST) platform. This technology was developed following decades-long research by the company’s Scientific Co-Founder, Malcolm Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., and researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, into the unique properties of virus specific T-cells (VSTs). These highly specialized T cells have the ability to recognize and kill infected cells while activating other parts of the immune system for a coordinated response. Allogeneic VSTs without any form of genetic modification have demonstrated a strong safety profile and efficacy in early trials with minimal risk of graft rejection and Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD).

Clinical data from an ongoing Phase 1 study (NCT04288726) of TT11X in CD30-positive lymphomas demonstrated a favorable safety profile and encouraging signs of efficacy with clinical responses observed in seven of nine patients, including a complete disappearance of tumors reported in four patients.

“We are very excited to be recognized among the innovators in developing ‘off-the-shelf’ cell therapy technologies and greatly appreciate the ACGTEA 2022 award,” Dr. Ivan Horak, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Tessa Therapeutics, said. “Allogeneic cell therapy technology has the potential to transform the accessibility and affordability of CAR-T, but toxicity concerns remain a key obstacle. Data from our ongoing Phase 1 trial of TT11X suggest that our CD30.CAR EBVST platform has the potential to overcome these toxicity challenges, including GVHD, while also eliciting promising signals of efficacy.”

About Tessa Therapeutics
Tessa Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation cell therapies for the treatment of hematological cancers and solid tumors. Tessa’s lead clinical asset, TT11, is an autologous CD30-CAR-T therapy currently being investigated as a potential treatment for relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma as both a monotherapy (Phase 2) and combination therapy (Phase 1b). TT11 has been granted RMAT designation by the FDA and access to the PRIME scheme by European Medicine Agency. Tessa is also advancing an allogeneic “off-the- shelf” cell therapy platform targeting a broad range of cancers in which Epstein Barr Virus Specific T Cells (EBVSTs) are augmented with CD30-CAR. A therapy using this platform is currently the subject of a Phase 1 clinical trial in CD30-positive lymphomas. Tessa has its global headquarters in Singapore, where the company has built a state of the art, commercial cell therapy manufacturing facility. For more information on Tessa, visit www.tessacell.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, to the fullest extent applicable) including, without limitation, with respect to various regulatory filings or clinical study developments of the Company. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “target”, “may”, “assume” or similar expressions. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those related to the Company’s financial results, the ability to raise capital, dependence on strategic partnerships and licensees, the applicability of patents and proprietary technology, the timing for completion of the clinical trials of its product candidates, whether and when, if at all, the Company’s product candidates will receive marketing approval, and competition from other biopharmaceutical companies. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the date hereof and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company’s products are expressly for investigational use pursuant to a relevant investigational device exemption granted by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, or equivalent competent body.

Tessa Therapeutics Investor Contact

Wilson W. Cheung
Chief Financial Officer
wcheung@tessacell.com

Tessa Therapeutics Media Contact

Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Bill Borden
+1-732-910-1620
bborden@tiberend.com

Dave Schemelia
+1-609-468-9325
dschemelia@tiberend.com

Source: Tessa Therapeutics Ltd

–BERNAMA

BEIJING, Sept. 15, 2022 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

The Third Video Competition on “100 Reasons To Love Beijing” was launched on September 8, 2022. Sponsored by the Information Office of Beijing Municipal People’s Government and organized by the News and Information Center, Xinhua News Agency, the contest is designed to attract Internet users from around the world to share their impression about Beijing with short videos or golden words.

Xu Hejian, director of the Information Office of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, said in his speech the “100 Reasons To Love Beijing” Short Video Competition, a cultural outreach event initiated by the Information Office of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, has been held successfully for two times. It attracted the participation of more than 3,000 foreign friends from over 100 countries and regions, and solicited nearly 5,000 works in the aggregate, from which many excellent videos were selected. The 2022 edition of the competition themed “How YOUNG Beijing Is” continues to solicit short videos from among foreigners who like Beijing. The competition is intended to serve as a platform for people to exchange their feelings about Beijing.

“Friendship, which derives from close contact between the people, holds the key to sound nation-to-nation relations,” Ma Jianguo, deputy director of the News and Information Center, Xinhua News Agency, said the “100 Reasons To Love Beijing ” is an activity to bring the people from all over the world to get connected, and to enable the people throughout the world to better understand Beijing. “In the run-up to the event, a lot of foreign friends sent videos to overseas branches of Xinhua News Agency, telling how and why they love Beijing”.

Beijing is an ancient capital, bearing witness to more than 3,000 years of historical vicissitudes; Beijing is also a modern city, full of vitality, and sees changes with each passing day. Since the late Ming Dynasty, Beijing has been attracting friends from all over the world. People love Beijing for different reasons. Some love Beijing’s beautiful scenery, some Beijing’s food, some the vitality of starting up businesses, and some Beijing’s cultural diversity.

The contest welcomes the entries from worldwide netizens, including the international friends who are living in Beijing, have been to Beijing, or have interest in Beijing. Anyone who is interested can email the work to lovebeijing2022 @163.com, and can talk about the topic of “100 Reasons To Love Beijing “on Weibo.

Beijing invites global netizens to come on to share the stories.

Source: Information Office of Beijing Municipal People’s Government

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Caption: The Third Video Competition on “100 Reasons To Love Beijing” was launched on September 8, 2022. 

–BERNAMA

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Sabin Vaccine Institute today announced it is receiving an additional $21.8 million under an existing contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These funds advance development of a vaccine against Marburg virus disease, a virus that is related to Ebola Zaire which killed 2200 people during the last major outbreak that ended in 2020. The Sabin Marburg vaccine is the only candidate currently slated for a Phase 2 clinical trial. Marburg is among the world’s deadliest viruses, resulting in the death of approximately half the people the virus infects. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or treatments for the disease. As recently as July this year, two people in Ghana died after being infected with Marburg virus, reinforcing the urgent need for medical therapies. The latest tranche of funds enables Sabin to conduct a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial among adults in the U.S. to further evaluate the safety and the efficacy of the Marburg vaccine candidate and advance non-clinical vaccine dosing studies. The Phase 2 clinical trial in the U.S. will begin after Sabin has initiated a same-stage trial in Africa, currently scheduled for 2023. Sabin will also undertake a non-clinical study on the vaccine candidate during this phase. “Beginning Phase 2 clinical trials for the Marburg vaccine is a pivotal milestone for us and we appreciate BARDA’s continued confidence in our work and support for this critical next step,” says Sabin Chief Executive Officer Amy Finan. “Vaccines remain our best bet against death and disability from deadly viruses. I am hopeful that in the years ahead, we can offer this life-saving vaccine to every person who needs it.” In 2019, BARDA awarded Sabin a multi-year contract valued at $128 million to further the development of vaccines against two lethal viruses: Marburg and Ebola Sudan. With BARDA now exercising the latest option of that contract, Sabin’s Ebola and Marburg Research & Development program, to date, has been awarded $98.6 million. BARDA is part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under contract number 75A50119C000555. Learn more about Sabin’s Marburg and Ebola Sudan Program. About the Sabin Vaccine Institute The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a leading advocate for expanding vaccine access and uptake globally, advancing vaccine research and development, and amplifying vaccine knowledge and innovation. Unlocking the potential of vaccines through partnership, Sabin has built a robust ecosystem of funders, innovators, implementers, practitioners, policy makers and public stakeholders to advance its vision of a future free from preventable diseases. As a non-profit with more than two decades of experience, Sabin is committed to finding solutions that last and extending the full benefits of vaccines to all people, regardless of who they are or where they live. At Sabin, we believe in the power of vaccines to change the world. For more information, visit www.sabin.org and follow us on Twitter, @SabinVaccine. About Ebola Sudan and Marburg Ebola Sudan and Marburg are members of the filovirus family. Both can cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates. No therapeutic treatment of the hemorrhagic fevers caused by filoviruses has been licensed to date. Marburg and Ebola viruses are transmitted to humans by infected animals, particularly fruit bats. Once a human is infected, the virus can spread to others through close personal contact or contact with bodily fluids. Isolation of infected people is currently the centerpiece of filovirus control. Marburg was the first filovirus to be recognized in 1967 when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever were reported in a few Europe-based laboratories including in the town of Marburg, Germany. Ebola was identified in 1976 when two simultaneous outbreaks occurred in northern Zaire (now the DRC) in a village near the Ebola River and southern Sudan. The outbreaks involved what eventually proved to be two different species of Ebola virus; both were named after the nations in which they were discovered. Media contact: Rajee Suri press@sabin.org   SOURCE : The Sabin Vaccine Institute

AsiaNet 97783



^{2022 Beijing International Cooperation Forum and CBD Forum opened.}


BEIJING, Sept. 13, 2022 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

On the morning of September 6, Beijing International Cooperation Forum and CBD Forum, the main forum of 2022 Beijing CBD International Business Season, opened.
    
Chaoyang District government has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission. In the future, the two sides will promote the gathering of even more international resources in CBD, facilitate enterprises to implement the “going global” and “bringing in” strategies, and carry out a series of pilot projects in application of new consumption scenarios, green finance and green consumption.
 
The Beijing CBD International Business Festival (formerly known as the Beijing CBD Business Festival) has been successfully held for 22 times and it is one of the most important business activities in Beijing. At present, Beijing CBD is accelerating the pace to gather new consumer products, new brands and new business forms, in the endeavor to create a world-class business circle worth hundreds of billions of yuan. 
    
In 2021, more than 400 first stores were launched in Beijing CBD, which made the area top the city in this regard; and more than one third of all international brands have landed in the area. Among the altogether 34 Michelin restaurants in Beijing, 34 are located in CBD, accounting for nearly 60% of the total. Moreover, Beijing CBD is home to more than 60% of all the Black Pearl restaurants and nearly 50% of all the cafes of the city and the area has the highest concentration of international elements in the city.
 
According to the Beijing CBD Management Committee, in recent years, Beijing CBD, by taking advantage of favorable policies, has launched the Beijing CBD international business service platform, the cross-border trade digital service platform, the cross-border trade risk service platform, the foreign exchange derivative service platform, Beijing International Commercial Dispute Resolution Center, Beijing International Art Auction and Trading Center, and B&R – RCEP Innovation Service Center. Besides, China’s first L4 high-precision city-level digital twin platform has been built, featuring the CBD Digital Virtual Conference Room, and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cloud Center.
 
Themed “Deeply integrating into global cooperation and enhancing the city’s opening-up vitality”, the forum focuses on the CBD development in the context of globalization, fully taps Beijing CBD’s strengths in gathering international high-end resources, and promotes the integrated development of various international factors, with a view of enhancing the openness and vitality of Beijing CBD.
     
Under the guidance of the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission and China Public Diplomacy Association, the Forum was co-organized by the Chaoyang District People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the Foreign Affairs Office of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government. The Forum won support from national platforms and international organizations such as the Global Business Districts Innovation Club and China CBD Alliance.
 
Source: Beijing CBD Management Committee
 
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   Caption: 2022 Beijing International Cooperation Forum and CBD Forum opened.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) — Adagene Inc (Adagene), a company transforming the discovery and development of novel antibody-based therapies, has announced the publication of data showing the best-in-class potential of ADG126, a masked, anti-CTLA-4 SAFEbody®.

According to a statement, interim results from the Phase 1 portion of an ongoing Phase 1b/2 trial of ADG126 are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022 in Paris, Sept 9 – 13, 2022.

The poster, titled “Phase 1 Results Demonstrate Highly Differentiated Safety and PK Profile of ADG126, a Masked anti-CTLA-4 SAFEbody® in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors,” reviewed data from the first-in-human, open label, phase 1 dose-escalation and dose expansion.

The poster reports data on 26 patients with advanced metastatic solid tumours, the majority (58 per cent) of whom received three or more lines of prior therapies and nearly half (42 per cent) of whom progressed from prior immuno-oncology (IO) therapy.

Key findings include ADG126 monotherapy showed an unprecedented clinical safety profile at dosing levels up to 20 mg/kg when administered to this heavily pretreated patient population once every three weeks.

In addition, ADG126 plasma pharmacokinetics (PK) were approximately linear and activated ADG126 accumulated steadily during repeat dosing across different dose levels.

Trials evaluating the combination of ADG126 and anti-PD-1 therapies are ongoing in patients with advanced, metastatic tumours in the US, China and Asia Pacific (APAC), evaluating optimised doses of ADG126 in targeted tumours.

More details at https://investor.adagene.com.

— BERNAMA