Von: An: Thema: Datum: Info Eva-Maria Gottmann BioRN News November 2013 Dienstag, 3. Dezember 2013 13:51:22 Dear reader, At the end of 2013 you might be wondering what is planned for next year. With our Horizon 2020 Workshop we looked ahead at the upcoming Framework Program for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. We are happy that more than 100 people joined our workshop to find out about new funding possibilities. ‹read more› We have organized valuable networking events and conferences and provided services for biotech organizations this year, and we will continue to do so in 2014. There will be a conference to conclude and to critically review 5 years as a leading-edge cluster, further biotech entrepreneurship activities, and much more. This is the last newsletter for 2013, so I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas season and a happy new year! Eva-Maria Gottmann Marketing & Communications BioRN Cluster Management GmbH Stay informed via Twitter and RSS-Feed: BIORN NEWS NOVEMBER 2013 Contents 01 | Press releases from the BioRN Cluster 02 | Upcoming Events in the BioRN Cluster 03 | From BioRN Cluster Management and BioRN Network » 2. BioRN Entrepreneurship Forum » Successful Horizon 2020-Workshop » Biotech Entrepreneurship and Leadership Lectures with Dr. Gitte Neubauer » New BioRN Network Members: PW Technologies and Health Vision GmbH 05 | Leading-edge Cluster project – Technical Showcase » Affimed Therapeutics AG: Development of a novel, tumor-antigen-specific RECRUIT- TandAb for the T-cell-mediated lysis of solid tumors 06 | Imprint 01 | PRESS RELEASES FROM THE BIORN CLUSTER November 20, 2013 Biopharm GmbH enters into Co-Research Agreement with Merck ... [more] November 20, 2013 Roche's Kadcyla approved in the EU for advanced HER2-positive breast cancer ... [more] November 15, 2013 DKFZ: Defective packaging protein boosts gene activity in brain cancer cells ... [more] November 15, 2013 Merck Strengthens its Presence in China with New Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility ... [more] November 14, 2013 SYGNIS reports nine month results for the period ended 30 September 2013 ... [more] November 13, 2013 Heidelberg University: How Argonaute Proteins Intervene in the Gene Regulation Process ... [more] November 13, 2013 PEPperPRINT and MalVa announce a joint project in Malaria vaccine development ... [more] November 13, 2013 Merck Enters into Further Global Co-Development and Commercialization Agreement for PARP Inhibitor with Chinese R&D Company BeiGene ... [more] November 12, 2013 Affimed Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Jens-Peter Marschner as Chief Medical Officer ... [more] November 11, 2013 DKFZ: Binding protein prevents vascular chaos ... [more] November 07, 2013 Roche’s Gazyva helped people with one of the most common forms of blood cancer live significantly longer without their disease worsening compared to MabThera/Rituxan in phase III CLL11 study ... [more] November 04, 2013 FDA approves Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for people with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) ... [more] November 04, 2013 Roche and Polyphor join efforts to combat multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections ... [more] October 30, 2013 DKFZ: How a secret friendship of two enzymes makes apoptosis possible ... [more] October 28, 2013 DKFZ: Radiation therapy mobilizes the immune system against tumors ... [more] » back to top 02 | UPCOMING EVENTS IN THE BIORN CLUSTER November 26, 2013 Biotech>inside "Standortsicherung und Standortentwicklung in Baden-Württemberg unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Biotechnologie als Innovationsmotor" [more] November 27, 2013 Biotech Entrepreneurship & Leadership Lectures (BELL) Thomas Höger: Finance [more] November 27-29, 2013 GMP Seminar: Validierung analytischer Methoden in der Biotechnologie (A 16) [more] November 28, 2013 BioRN Entrepreneurship Forum II (BEF) - Dr. Ingmar Hoerr, CEO, CureVac GmbH, Tuebingen [more] November 29-30, 2013 3rd European Conference on Whole-Slide Imaging and Analysis in Heidelberg [more] December 02, 2013 HITS colloquia: Early steps in targeting "undruggable" proteins using long molecular dynamics simulations; Dr. Paul Maragakis [more] December 02, 2013 Meyenburg Cancer Research Award Symposium 2013 [more] December 04, 2013 Distinguished Lecturer Seminar Series: Johanna Lampe - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center [more] December 05, 2013 EMBL Forum seminars on Science and Society: Schizophrenia 2013: the journey from 'madness' to molecular etiology [more] December 06, 2013 Verleihung des Lautenschläger-Forschungspreises 2013 [more] December 11, 2013 Biotech Entrepreneurship & Leadership Lectures (BELL) Jürgen Bauer: IP and Technology Transfer [more] December 11, 2013 Wissenschaftsdialog Mannheim: Grüne Biotechnologie: Gentechnik in der Landwirtschaft und Lebensmittelproduktion - wie nachhaltig ist das? [more] December 16, 2013 Distinguished Lecturer Seminar Series: Anton Berns - NCI Netherlands [more] January 08, 2014 Biotech Entrepreneurship & Leadership Lectures (BELL) Ralf Eckert: Global Business Development [more] » back to top 03 | FROM BIORN CLUSTER MANAGEMENT & BIORN NETWORK 2. BioRN Entrepreneurship Forum On November 28, 2013, BioRN Network e.V. will host the second BioRN Entrepreneurship Forum. The guest speaker will be Dr. Ingmar Hoerr, CEO of CureVac, Tübingen. A profile of Dr. Hoerr and CureVac is available at the BIOPROWebsite. REGISTER NOW: www.biorn-network.org/bef Successful Horizon 2020-Workshop In cooperation with the "Nationale Kontaktstelle Lebenswissenschaften" the BioRN Cluster Management informed scientists from research institutions and companies (particularly SMEs) about the new EU program “Horizon 2020”. More than 100 guests received a broad overview of Challenges 1 (Health) and 2 (Biotechnology). If you have any questions concerning Horizon 2020, please contact Dr. Stephanie Bechtel ([email protected]). Biotech Entrepreneurship and Leadership Lectures with Dr. Gitte Neubauer On November 13, 2013, Dr. Gitte Neubauer spoke under the framework of the Biotech Entrepreneurship and Leadership Lectures, a new program to foster leadership competencies in the life sciences. In her talk Dr. Neubauer provided insight into the founding history of Cellzome. She created a viable picture of the ups and downs of her entrepreneurial journey with Cellzome – starting at the very beginning at the EMBL and ending with being acquired by GlaxoSmithKline. The next lecture will be delivered by Dr. Thomas Höger of Apogenix. His topic will be “Finance”. Date: November 27, 2013 | 4–6 p.m. | Conference Center Technologiepark Heidelberg New BioRN Network Members: PW Technologies and Health Vision GmbH PW Technologies is a new company developing innovative earlystage projects in regenerative and personalized medicine to a preclinical proof-of-concept. The first project is a serum-based biomarker for liver fibrosis. Find further information at: http://pw-technologies.com. HealthVision® GmbH is a spin-off of the ETH, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. Located in Heidelberg, Health Vision GmbH provides a range of services including strategic consultancy and solutions for in-firm health management. For more information please see http://www.healthvision.de. » back to top 05 | LEADING-EDGE CLUSTER PROJECT – TECHNICAL SHOWCASE Organization: Affimed Therapeutics AG Project title: Development of a novel, tumor-antigen-specific RECRUIT-TandAb for the T-cell-mediated lysis of solid tumors Problem: EGFR dysregulation has been linked to numerous cancers, and both small molecules and EGFR-targeting antibodies have successfully reached the market. However, the antibodies approved for medical use and those currently in development all share severe side-effect profiles due to a broad expression of EGFR on normal tissues. The deletion variant III of EGFR (EGFRvIII), with a truncated extracellular domain and ensuing ligand-independent constitutive activity, is the most common mutant form associated with oncogenic transformation. EGFRvIII is expressed exclusively in cancer tissues and is associated with an especially aggressive cancer phenotype; this antigen is found in various solid tumor types. Approach to problem-solving: The restricted EGFRvIII expression on cancer cells provides an opportunity to develop highly cytotoxic antibodies that target cancer exclusively, sparing normal tissues and substantially reducing the side effects associated with EGFR therapy. T cells are potent tumor-killing effector cells that cannot be recruited by native antibodies. To harness the cytotoxic capacity of T cells for the treatment of several types of solid tumors (e.g. glioblastoma, prostate cancer) Affimed is developing bispecific tetravalent antibodies, with two binding sites for each, CD3 and EGFRvIII, the EGFRvIII/CD3 RECRUIT-TandAb. Results: Using phage-display libraries, we identified scFvs that selectively bind to EGFRvIII. Engineered T-cell-recruiting TandAbs were constructed which exhibit absolute specificity towards EGFRvIII, with no wild-type EGFR binding, and which display cytotoxic activity in the very low pM range. A high affinity for CD3 was essential for efficacious T-cell recruitment and yet, in the absence of target cells, TandAbs did not elicit T-cell activation; this will contribute to a good safety profile. Affinity maturation of EGFRvIII-binding moieties is performed to test whether increased affinity can further enhance functional properties of the therapeutic candidates. Currently, selected candidates are tested in xenograft tumor models in mice. In parallel, further extensive in vitro and biophysical characterization is performed in order to select, as the next milestone, a suitable development candidate for further IND-enabling preclinical development. In summary, current data demonstrate that EGFRvIII/CD3 TandAbs are novel, highly potent drug candidates for the treatment of EGFRvIII+ malignancies. Resulting publications: Kristina Ellwanger, Uwe Reusch, Carmen Burkhardt, Stefan Knackmuss, Markus Eser, Fionnuala McAleese, Ivica Fucek, and Eugene Zhukovsky (2013) A highly cytotoxic EGFRvIII/CD3 TandAb recruits T cells to specifically and potently kill several types of solid tumor cancers. Poster at EORTC / AACR Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Conference, October 19–23, Boston, MA Contact person: Affimed Therapeutics AG Im Neuenheimer Feld 582 69120 Heidelberg Germany E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +49 6221 65307 10 » back to top 05 | IMPRINT Publisher: BioRN Cluster Management GmbH Im Neuenheimer Feld 582, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany Responsible for the content: Dr. Christian Tidona Phone: +49 6221 655780 Email: [email protected] www.BioRN.org Internet: Commercial Register: Mannheim, HRB 704801 VAT ID: DE 2630 64 014 Editors: Dr. Stephanie Konle, Eva-Maria Gottmann, Yvonne Steinrock Stay informed via Twitter and RSS-Feed: » back to top If you want to unsubscribe from the BioRN Newsletter please click here.