Day: August 1, 2022

AOP Health signed an agreement with Leukos Biotech for the further development of a newly discovered chemical substance. With this agreement AOP Health expands the hemato-oncology research area even further and provides additional treatment options for certain leukemia patients in the longer term.

VIENNA, Austria, Aug. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The AOP Health Group (AOP Health) is a European pioneer for integrated therapies for rare diseases and in critical care headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The company focuses on research, development and global sales of innovative treatment solutions and specializes in therapies for rare diseases and intensive care. In early July, AOP Health signed an agreement with Leukos Biotech, a spin-off company founded by the Barcelona-based Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute. The agreement signed by AOP Health covers the option for developments of the newly discovered chemical substance within any treatable indication, not limited to oncological or rare diseases.

Luis Ruiz-Avila, Chief Executive Officer Leukos Biotech

Agreement sets basis for new areas of therapy

At first, AOP Health will focus on the development of treatment options for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Both are special disease types of leukemia that often start in the bone marrow. Agnes Kohl, Chief Business Officer of AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Member of the AOP Health Group explains: “Based on positive data, our plan is to expand the development for further orphan indications even outside of AML and MDS at a later stage. With this agreement, we may be able to broaden the portfolio within our therapeutic areas offering even more treatment options for patients.”

Development in cooperation with Leukos

As AOP Health focuses on rare, hemato-oncological cancers and has many years of experience in the development and commercialization of hemato-oncological treatments, the company will drive the further development of the substance in cooperation with Leukos based on a new mode of action. This could potentially turn into a milestone in the treatment of many blood cancer and other cancer patients. Luis Ruiz-Avila, Chief Executive Officer of Leukos Biotech: “We focus on developing new treatments for a wide variety of tumors. We were born to transform excellent science from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute into valuable products for cancer patients in need, and this agreement is a very significant step in that direction. We are convinced that AOP Health is the right partner to turn this promising, novel mechanism of action into a clinical reality for the benefit of patients in a wide variety of unmet medical needs”.

About AOP Health

The AOP Health Group incorporates several companies including AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals GmbH with its seat in Vienna, Austria (“AOP Health”). The AOP Health Group is the European pioneer for integrated therapies for rare diseases and in critical care. Over the past 25 years, the Group has become an established provider of integrated therapy solutions operating from its headquarters in Vienna, its subsidiaries and representative offices throughout Europe and the Middle East, as well as through partners worldwide. This development has been made possible by a continually high level of investment in research and development on the one hand and a highly consistent and pragmatic orientation towards the needs of all its stakeholders on the other – especially the patients and their families as well as also the healthcare professionals treating them.

About Leukos

Leukos Biotech, SL (Leukos) is a spin-off company from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute incorporated in Barcelona in 2015. The company is developing new treatments and diagnostic tools for a wide variety of tumors targeting the serotonin receptor HTR1B, which antitumoral potential was first described and patented by Leukos’ founder Dr. Ruth Risueño in her laboratory at the Josep Carreras Research Institute. Leukos’ main financial support is from private and institutional investors. The main shareholders are Inveready, CDTI Innvierte and the Josep Carreras Foundation. Besides investors’ support, Leukos has received non-dilutive grants and loans from the Catalan Government, the Spanish Government and the European Union in various programs.

About the Josep Carreras Foundation

The Josep Carreras Leukaemia Foundation was established in 1988 with the intention of contributing to finding a definitive cure for this disease. Its efforts are concentrated on four basic areas: administering the Spanish Bone Marrow Donor Registry (REDMO), scientific research, carried out by the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, patient guidance through an online patient consultation channel, and reception apartments for patients who need to undergo treatment and have to spend a long time far from home.

About the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute

The Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, a public centre pertaining to the Generalitat de Catalunya’s CERCA network, was established in 2010 with the aim of furthering biomedical research and personalised medicine in the field of leukaemia and other onco-hematological diseases. It is the first research centre in Europe exclusively focussed on leukaemia and malignant blood diseases, and one of the very few in the world. The Josep Carreras Institutes has three coordinated but independent scientific campuses: University of Barcelona Hospital Clínic Campus, The Catalan Institute of Oncology/Germans Trias i Pujol Campus, and the Sant Pau – Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) Campus

About Inveready

Inveready is a leading alternative asset manager in Spain – investing in early-stage VC, growth VC, venture debt, strategic equity in listed companies, infrastructure and private equity – providing financing solutions to companies throughout their life-cycle. Founded in 2008, Inveready counts on 200 active companies, and more than €1bn of assets under management. Inveready has been investing in companies in the Life Sciences sector since 2008. Notable investments in this vertical are Atrys Health (listed on the Spanish market), EDESA Biotech (listed on Nasdaq), AVX Pharma (sold to Aerie Biotech) and PaloBiofarma (licensing agreement with Novartis). Inveready is headquartered in San Sebastian, and has other offices in Barcelona and Madrid. It has been recognized on multiple occasions by ASCRI and Preqin for the return on its funds and transactions (For more information, visit www.inveready.com).

Mag Nina Roth, MAS
nina.roth@aop-health.com

AOP Health
Needs. Science. Trust.

AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals GmbH
Member of the AOP Health Group

Leopold-Ungar-Platz 2, 1190 Vienna, Austria
aop-health.com

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WALTHAM, Mass and SHANGHAI, China, July 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zenas BioPharma, a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immune-based therapies for patients in need around the world, announced that it has received approval of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China for the initiation of a Phase 1/2 clinical study of ZB001 for the treatment of Thyroid Eye Disease (TED). The main objective of the Phase 1/2 is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy of ZB001.

TED is a debilitating vison-threatening autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and fibrosis within the orbit of the eye. With no approved therapies for TED patients in China, treatment options are limited and often involve high doses of steroids associated with serious side effects or surgical intervention. ZB001 is a differentiated humanized monoclonal antibody targeting insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) intended for the treatment of TED.

“We are proud that the IND application for ZB001 was approved by the NMPA about two months following its submission, highlighting our team’s unique ability to efficiently execute on our development programs,” said Hua Mu, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer at Zenas. “We are excited to work with leading clinical experts in China to accelerate the development of ZB001 to address the significant unmet clinical need in thyroid eye disease.”

Zenas BioPharma licensed the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize ZB001 (Viridian VRDN-001) and other compounds targeting IGF-1R in non-oncology indications in the greater China area from Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (Viridian) in October 2020. After submitting an IND for VRDN-001 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2021, Viridian initiated a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in December 2021 to evaluate proof of concept in TED patients in North America and released encouraging interim healthy volunteer data suggesting robust activity with excellent safety and tolerability of the candidate product.

About Zenas BioPharma

Zenas BioPharma is a global biopharmaceutical company based in the USA and China committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of immune-based therapies for patients in the US, China and around the world. Zenas is rapidly advancing a deep pipeline of innovative therapeutics that continues to grow through our successful business development strategy. Our experienced leadership team and network of business partners drive operational excellence to deliver potentially transformative therapies to improve the lives of those facing autoimmune and rare diseases. For more information about Zenas BioPharma, please visit www.zenasbio.com and follow us on Twitter at @ZenasBioPharma and LinkedIn.

Investor and Media Contact:
Joe Farmer
Zenas BioPharma
IR@zenasbio.com