Welcome to the June edition of the Tocagen Newsletter! We have made exciting progress with our broadly applicable, immuno-oncology platform and our company continues to advance on multiple fronts. Here are some highlights:
Appointment of 4 independent board members
FDA agreement for our Phase 2/3 registrational trial
Recognition of our program in a variety of media reports
An important peer reviewed publication supporting the intravenous delivery of Toca 511
Numerous data presentations at leading scientific conferences
Please stay tuned for more updates and thank you for your continued support in our fight against cancer.
The Tocagen team.
Tocagen Appoints Independent Board Members
We are in the process of building an expert independent board commensurate with our growth and progress. The four board appointees below have extensive expertise and experience including serving on corporate boards.
Faheem Hasnain, president and chief executive officer of Receptos, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCPT), is a distinguished industry leader with over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Read the news release.
Franklin M. Berger, CFA, a founder and managing director of FMB Research, is a biotechnology industry analyst with over 25 years of experience in capital markets and financial analysis. He will serve as the chairman of a newly formed audit committee. Read the news release.
Paul Schimmel, Ph.D., Hahn professor of molecular biology and chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute, is an industry and academic leader with deep experience developing new treatments for unmet medical needs and building successful companies.Read the news release.
David R. Parkinson, M.D., is a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and has deep oncology drug development expertise. Read the news release.
In The News
Asha Das, MD appointed as Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Previously, Dr. Das led activities surrounding the approval and launch of Avastin® for glioblastoma. Read the news release.
Tocagen announced FDA agreement for our Phase 2/3 registrational trial and presentation of updated survival data at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS)/Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Section on Tumors. Read the news release.
US News article mentions Toca 511 in an article titled “Harnessing the Immune System to Combat Aggressive Brain Tumors: A look at new hope to extend the lives of patients with glioblastoma.” Read the article.
Toca 511 and a quote from CEO Harry Gruber, MD were included in an article about Dr. Theodore Friedmann’s receipt of the prestigious Japan Prize for gene therapy. Read the article.
Toca 511 & Toca FC highlighted in Genetic Engineering News: Gene Therapy Comes of Age article. Read the article.
The Musella Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of families dealing with brain cancer, recently announced a grant award to Tocagen to support preclinical compatibility testing of Toca 511 with 5-ALA or tumor treating fields.
Tom Mikkelsen, M.D., co-director of the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center at Henry Ford on Toca 511 & Toca FC: “This promising therapy represents a radically different approach to killing virulent brain cancer, and offers hope for improving the current prognosis while minimizing side effects.” Read the news release.
Tocagen Publications and Presentations
Intravenous administration of Toca 511 demonstrates preclinical efficacy in tumor model. Congratulations to lead author Tiffany Huang, Ph.D. and her co-authors! Read the abstract.
Tocagen’s Chief Medical Officer Skillings, MD presented “Attacking Malignant Glioma Using a Non-lytic Virus” at the Brain Tumor Biotech Summit in New York.
Tocagen’s Joan Robbins, Ph.D. participated on a panel discussion at CALBIO on the topic of gene therapy. Read the details. She was also lead author for online ASCO abstract “Additive therapeutic effect of a non-lytic retroviral replicating vector (Toca 511) and 5-fluorocytosine in combination with lomustine in experimental glioma models.” Read the abstract.
Tocagen scientists and collaborators had multiple presentations at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy 18th Annual Meeting in New Orleans:
Derek Ostertag, Ph.D. presented a poster on the broad susceptibility of cancer cells to Tocagen’s treatment.
Kader Yagiz, Ph.D. presented a poster showing the effect of Tocagen’s treatment in a preclinical model of colon cancer.
Tocagen collaborator Akihito Inagaki reported that Tocagen’s treatment in a preclinical model of breast cancer brain metastases showed statistically significant (p<0.0001) survival benefit over controls.
Tocagen presented “Immunotherapy for High Grade Glioma-The Tocagen Experience” at the SABPA Sci & Tech Symposium: “Immunotherapy, the New Frontier of Disease Treatment.” View conference details.
We had 6 scientific presentations at SNO 2014 relating to Toca 511 & Toca FC. Read the data summary.
Forward-Looking Statements: Tocagen makes forward-looking statements herein or in connection herewith that involve potential risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements regarding Tocagen’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future. These forward statements also include statements regarding (i) the success of Tocagen’s anticipated research and development efforts, including pre-clinical studies and the timing of, the government regulation of, and degree of safety and efficacy in, clinical trials, and Tocagen’s future financial results, (ii) Tocagen’s future financing assumptions, (iii) Tocagen’s market position and the size and competitiveness of its market for its anticipated products and services, and (iv) Tocagen’s ability to develop future products and services. It is important to note that Tocagen’s actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.
Neither this newsletter nor any link in this Newsletter to other information, including but not limited to videos prepared by 3rd parties, constitutes an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities. The information set out herein and therein is preliminary and should not be relied upon for any purpose. Tocagen does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein and therein shall not have any liability for such information.
