Weekly Quick Hits (Greater Philadelphia) – Week of January 30, 2023

Funding

CytoSorbents Issues Stockholder Letter and Preliminary Q4 Financials

CytoSorbents, headquartered in Princeton, NJ, issued a stockholder letter from CEO Phillip Chan as well as preliminary unaudited Q4 2022 and full-year 2022 results ahead of its Form 10-K. Preliminary unaudited total revenue was about $34.7 million. For Q4, total revenue is estimated at $9.4 million. 

AmerisourceBergen Reports Q1 Results; Plans to Change Name to Cencora

AmerisourceBergen, based in Conshohocken, Pa., reported its Q1 2023, which ended December 31, 2022, had a revenue increase of 5.4% year-over-year to $62.8 billion. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $2.33 compared to $2.13 in the previous year’s first quarter. The company, on January 24, 2023, announced plans to change its name to Cencora.

In the Clinic

NRx Pharmaceuticals’ Safety Board Recommends Depression Trial Enrollment Proceed

Radnor, Pa.-based NRx Pharmaceuticals announced that its independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended enrollment in its Phase II trial of NRX-101 for Severe Bipolar Depression and Sub acuate Suicidal Ideation or Behavior continue enrollment. The drug is a fixed-dose combination of D-cycloserine and lurasidone.

NRG Oncology’s Phase III Endometrial Cancer Study Hit Primary Endpoint

Philadelphia-based NRG Oncology announced its Phase III trial of Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with standard of care chemotherapy hit the primary endpoint of progression free survival (PFS) for treatment of stage III-IV or recurrent endometrial carcinoma, regardless of mismatch repair status. The independent Data Monitoring Committee found the combination demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in PFS compared to chemotherapy alone.

Research Roundup

Princeton Researchers Cite Memory Stepping Stones

Sebastian Michelmann, Urin Hasson and Kenneth A. Norman of Princeton University published research in Psychological Science describing “event boundaries” as access points for memory retrieval. According to their research, humans structure memories as continuous experiences using event boundaries. When one event ends and another ends, that is perceived as an event boundary. They believe that people use these boundaries as stepping stones to recall events.

Penn State and University of Minnesota Identify Possible Drugs for Quitting Smoking

Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and University of Minnesota developed a novel machine learning method to identify drugs that could be repurposed to help people quit smoking cigarettes. Some of the drugs identified are already in clinical trials. The approach analyzed genetic data from more than 1.3 million people and identified more than 400 genes related to smoking behaviors.

Penn Research: Sense of Purpose Influences College Student’s Alcohol Consumption

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Dartmouth College used functional MRI to study the relationship between cues to drink alcohol, alcohol craving, and alcohol consumption. They found that having a strong sense of purpose in life decreases the temptation to drink alcohol to excess.

On the Hill – Regulatory and Advocacy

Annovis Bio Files Patent for Buntanetap for Treatment of Mental Illness

Berwyn, Pa.-based Annovis Bio filed a patent application covering buntanetap and analogs for treatment of mental illness. The argument is that autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia share dysregulation of Abeta and other neurotoxic protein synthesis, dysfunctional nerve cell transmission and communication, and genetic risk factors. Buntanetap is an oral translational inhibitor of neurotoxic aggregating proteins.

People on the Move

Aprea Therapeutics Appoints John Hamill as Chief Financial Officer

Aprea Therapeutics, headquartered in Doylestown, Pa. announced the appointment of John Hamill as CFO. Scott Coiante will be stepping down from the position to pursue other opportunities, but will stay on until March 31, 2023.

Optinose Announces CEO Transition

Yardley, Pa.-bsed Optinose announced that its CEO Peter Miller has stepped down. Ramy Mahmoud, MD, MPH has been appointed CEO and board member. The company also reported its corporate guidance, with plans to submit a supplemental NDA to the FDA for a possible label expansion for Xhance for chronic sinusitis in February.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals Appoints Christine Silverstein to Board of Directors

Silverstein is a seasoned finance executive with experience across both private and public biopharmaceutical companies and an aptitude for implementing strong financial strategy, corporate partnering, financial reporting, cash management and improving efficiencies within organizations. She currently serves as CFO of Excision Biotherapeutics, Inc., and most recently served as CFO of Emendo Biotherapeutics (acquired in December 2020 by AnGes, Inc.).

Carisma Therapeutics Appoints Padmanee Sharma to Scientific Advisory Board

Philadelphia-based Carisma appointed The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center immunologist, Padmanee Sharma, to its Scientific Advisory Board. Sharma is a professor in the departments of Genitourinary Medical Oncology and Immunology, Associate VP of Immunobiology and the T.C. and Jeanette D. Hsu Endowed Chair in Cell Biology at MD Anderson. Carisma is expanding its CAR macrophages (CAR-M) program.

Wistar’s Noam Auslander Wins Michelson Prize

Noam Auslander, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Molecular & Cellular Oncogenesis Program of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center at The Wistar Institute, was named a Michelson Prize laureate by The Michelson Medical Research Foundation and the Human Immunome Project. These awards are given annually to promising early-career researchers whose projects focus on human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy research. Auslander and her team are developing AI approaches to identify microbes in cancer and immune diseases.

Layoffs

INOVIO Cuts 11% of Staff

INOVIO, headquartered in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., is reducing its headcount by 11% in an intent to “deliver on commitments to operational efficiency and better position the company to bring the promise of DNA medicines to patients.” Previously, the company had announced shuttering several clinical development programs in late 2022.

Vyant to Cut Jobs

Cherry Hill, NJ-based Vyant Bio announced plans to cut headcount in order to preserve cash in order to “pursue satisfactory strategic alternative transactions and/or execute an orderly wind-down of the Company, if necessary.” John Roberts, President and CEO, and Robert Fremeau, Jr., Ph.D., CSO, agreed to step down as of February 3 to preserve cash.