Can Fite to Conduct Investor Call to Review Positive Phase II NASH Data on Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 4:05 p.m. ET

Can-Fite: Progress in Compassionate Use Program Treating Advanced Liver Cancer Patients with Namodenoson

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address cancer, liver and inflammatory diseases, is entering into a collaborative research agreement with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. The agreement will support research directed by Dr. Kamel Khalili, aimed to explore anti-viral activity of Piclidenoson on Coronaviruses viral load in a mammalian cell model system as a first step.

Can Fite Received Approval for COVID-19 Clinical Trial in Israel, Patient Enrollment and Dosing to Commence Immediately

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE MKT: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company with a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address inflammatory, cancer and liver diseases, announced today that it has submitted Piclidenoson for a compassionate use program to treat coronavirus patients to the Institutional Review Board at Rabin Medical Center. If approved, the compassionate use program will be led by Dr. Dror Diker, M.D., Head of Internal Medicine D at the Rabin Medical Center. Patients would be treated at Rabin’s Golda Hasharon Campus which is currently positioned to treat coronavirus patients in a specialized setting.

The following are the latest biotech announcements from late Thursday and Friday morning on the development of products targeting the coronavirus. I-Mab ADR (NASDAQ: IMAB)The Shanghai-based biopharma said Friday it is initiating the development pf TJM2 to treat cytokine storms in severe and critically ill patients caused by COVID-19. TJM2 is a neutralizing antibody against human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, an important cytokine that plays a key role in acute and chronic inflammation.The company said it is awaiting FDA acceptance of an investigational new drug application. La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ: LJPC)La Jolla said Friday that it is providing Giapreza in Italy for compassionate use in patients with septic shock associated with COVID-19. Giapreza was approved by the FDA in 2017 as a vasoconstrictor to increase blood pressure in adults with septic or other distributive shock.It was later approved by the European Commission for treating refractory hypotension in adults with septic or other distributive shock.The drug, though approved by the EC, is not yet commercially available.Italian law allows authorized medicines for life-threatening and rare illnesses to be made available prior to commercial launch, according to La Jolla. Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ENTA)Enanta Pharma said Friday it has initiated a program to discover direct-acting antiviral drug candidates for treating patients infected with the coronavirus. The company said it is drawing upon its expertise in virology.The company is also screening compounds from its antiviral compound library for potential activity against COVID-19.See also: How Close Are Biotechs To Bringing A COVID-19 Treatment To Market? CAN FITE BIOPHARMA ADR REP 30 ORD (NYSE: CANF)Canadian biotech Can-Fite said Friday it is entering into a collaborative research agreement with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Templeton University, Philadelphia, to support research directed by Dr. Kamel Khalili, who is exploring the antiviral activity of piclidenoson on the coronavirus' viral load in a mammalian cell model system as a first step.Piclidenoson is Can-Fite's investigational Phase 3 asset currently being evaluated for rheumatoid arthritis and moderate-to-severe psoriasis.Roche Holdings AG Basel ADR Common Stock (OTC: RHHBY)Roche said Friday that the FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the cobas SARS-CoV-2 Test.Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY)Lilly said Thursday that it's collaborating with AbCellera, a privately held company developing therapeutic antibodies, to co-develop antibody products for treating COVID-19.Meanwhile, Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK) and Aytu Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ: AYTU) announced updates to their COVID-19 initiatives.Opko said Friday that its BioReference Labs subsidiary has begun accepting specimens for testing of COVID-19 from health care providers, clinics and health systems throughout the U.S.The company has announced a partnership with the New York State Department of Health for the first public drive-through testing facility on the East Coast. BioReference Labs is also planning to offer up to 5,000 tests a day at additional testing sites to be set up next week.Aytu announced the establishment Friday of a COVID-19 inquiry procedure to ensure the company adequately responds to inbound inquires from professionals and the public.The company said Tuesday that it clinched a distribution deal for a COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test.Biotech Price Action * La Jolla was rallying 8.92% to $4.15 * Can-Fite shares were rallying 5.26% to $1.40. * Lilly shares were advancing 5.09% to $132.44. * Opko Health was jumping 39.08% to $1.98. * Aytu was slipping 20.65% to $1.46. * OTC-listed Roche shares were up 7.77% at $38.43. Related Link: Inovio Continues To Rip Higher On Gates Foundation Funding For DNA Vaccine Delivery Device See more from Benzinga * The Daily Biotech Pulse: AstraZeneca Faces Setback In Ovarian Cancer Study, Mallinckrodt To Explore COVID-19 Treatment, Imara IPO * The Daily Biotech Pulse: NY State Endorses Mallinckrodt's Opioid Settlement, Kamada To Work On COVID-19 Treatment(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Top Ranked Momentum Stocks to Buy for April 27th

The biotech sector is in focus with pipeline updates from companies evaluating treatments for the novel COVID-19.

Benzinga Pro's Stocks To Watch For Friday * SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) \- Gold has not been serving as a store of value during this week's market rout. While the S&P 500 has been down about 5%, gold has been down about 6%. With the S&P 500 futures hitting a limit-up breaker Friday morning (up ~5%), gold is up about 0.7%. * OPKO Health (OPK) \- Shares were up 50% Friday following a 15% decline Thursday. New York Governor Cuomo said the State is contracting with the company's BioReference Laboratories unit to run 5,000 tests/day for coronavirus. Additionally, the company announced its BioReference Labs is now accepting specimens for testing coronavirus from healthcare providers throughout the US. * iBio (IBIO) \- The stock was up 30% after the company filed four provisional patent applications for its virus-like particle platform technology in conjunction with FastPharming System for treating and preventing coronavirus infection. * Campbell Soup (CPB) \- Shares were up about 3% to around $49 with the broader markets despite a Goldman Sachs downgrade to Sell. The firm set a $47 price target. * Can-Fite (CANF) \- The company announced it will explore anti-coronavirus effects of its piclidenoson in collaboration with Lewis Katz School of Medicine. The stock was up about 20%.See more from Benzinga * Benzinga Pro's Top 5 Stocks To Watch For Mon., Mar. 9, 2020: XOM, GLD, BA, TSLA, SPEX * Benzinga Pro's Top 5 Stocks To Watch For Thurs., Mar. 5, 2020: ZM, MRVL, LUV, CODX, CANF * Benzinga Pro's Top 5 Stocks To Watch For Tues., Feb. 4, 2020: GOOGL, DIS, EBAY, F, IBIO(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Can-Fite Reports Additional Findings from Successful Phase II NASH Study: 25 mg Dose of Namodenoson Significantly Reduced Liver Fat and Fibrosis

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address inflammatory and liver diseases, today announced that its Phase II exploratory NAFLD/NASH study with Namodenoson achieved its efficacy endpoints, while continuing to demonstrate a good safety profile.

Can-Fite Announces Pre-IND Submission to U.S. FDA for Piclidenoson in the Treatment of COVID-19 Infected Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Symptoms

Can-Fite Reports 2019 Financial Results & Provides Clinical Development Update

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address autoimmune inflammatory, liver and metabolic diseases, today announced new pre-clinical data demonstrating that cannabis derived CBD enriched fractions, supplied by Univo Pharmaceuticals, inhibit the expansion of human fat cells (pre-adipocytes) by 60%, a result that points towards the potential anti-obesity effect of this agent. Although it is already documented that cannabis derived compounds possess anti-obesity effect, the novel data presented by the Company demonstrates the anti-obesity effect at low nano-molar concentrations. Low CBD concentrations are known to be safe and well accepted in humans.

Top Ranked Momentum Stocks to Buy for April 28th

Can-Fite said its lead drug, Piclidenoson, is in a phase III study for rheumatoid arthritis treatments, but could possibly be used on coronavirus patients.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company with a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address inflammatory, cancer and liver diseases, announced today it is implementing an interim analysis of the Phase III Comfort™ trial designed to evaluate the Company’s drug candidate, Piclidenoson, in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Following the independent data monitoring committee’s evaluation of the data, Can-Fite expects to announce interim results in the fourth quarter of 2020.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the globe, having claimed over 115,000 lives, health care companies have are pursuing diagnostics tests, potential vaccines and therapies.The following companies provided updates Monday on their coronavirus programs.Biocept To Accept COVID-19 Testing Requests San Diego, California-based Biocept Inc (NASDAQ: BIOC), a provider of liquid biopsy tests, said in a Thursday press release that it intends to begin accepting physician-ordered COVID-19 molecular diagnostic testing requests for processing beginning April 15. Biocept said it has partnered with a national clinician network to accept patient samples and may obtain additional agreements as test capacity is increased. The company's lab will use the FDA-approvedThermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) Scientific TaqPath and kit for SARS-CoV2, which received Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA. "I am very thankful to our laboratory team for stepping up and quickly validating COVID-19 testing, in addition to the vital work we do each day for patients diagnosed with cancer," Biocept CEO Mike Nall said in a statement. Benzinga is covering every angle of how the coronavirus affects the financial world. For daily updates, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.See also: The Week Ahead In Biotech: Urogen FDA Decision, Amarin, J&J Earnings And More COVID-19 Updates BioCryst Opens Enrollment In Brazilian Trial Of Potential SARS-CoV-2 Treatment BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) said it has opened enrollment into a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study to assess the efficacy and antiviral effects of its galidesivir in patients with COVID-19.The trial will be funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to the company. Galidesivir is an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral drug that was found to be safe and well-tolerated in an Phase 1 trial conduced in healthy subjects, BioCryst said. It also showed broad-spectrum activity in labs against more than 20 RNA viruses belonging to nine families, including the coronaviruses that cause MERS and SARS.The company said the planned trial will be conducted in Brazil under a U.S. IND, and the protocol has been approved by the Brazilian regulatory agencies."We have begun to see COVID-19 cases in Brazil, and we have a good opportunity to enroll and treat patients earlier in their disease course to determine if galidesivir can benefit patients with COVID-19," said Dr. Esper Kallas, principal investigator of the study.Athersys Gets FDA Nod For Pivotal Phase 2/3 Study Of MultiStem Therapy For COVID-19 Induced ARDS Athersys Inc (NASDAQ: ATHX) said the FDA has authorized the company to initiate a Phase 2/3 pivotal study to assess the safety and efficacy of MultiStem therapy in subjects with moderate-to-severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, induced by the COVID-19 disease.Since the program falls under the company's current IND application for its completed MUST-ARDS study, it is not required to file a new IND.Athersys said it plans to open the first clinical sites for recruitment of the MACOVIA study this quarter. Can-Fite To Begin Enrollment, Dosing In COVID-19 Trial Immediately Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE: CANF) said it has received approval from the Institutional Review Board at Israel's Rabin Medical Center to initiate a pilot clinical study of its drug candidate Piclidenoson for the treatment of moderate-to-severe symptoms in coronavirus infected patients.The company announced in late March that it has submitted Piclidenoson to the institute for a COVID-19 compassionate use program.Patient enrollment and dosing will begin immediately, the company said."Piclidenoson's anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, and anti-rheumatic properties combined with its excellent safety profile make it a strong candidate for the potential treatment of coronavirus," Dr. Pnina Fishman, CEO of Can-Fite, said in a statement. Price Action * Biocept shares were jumping 63.3% to 58 cents at the time of publication Monday. * BioCryst shares were gaining 21.27% to trade at $2.51. * Athersys was moving up 8.59% to $3.16. * Can-Fite shares were surging 44.83% to $2.10. Related Link: Morgan Stanley Downgrades Lilly On Valuation, Says Growth, Pipeline Potential Balanced By Stock Premium See more from Benzinga * The Daily Biotech Pulse: Novartis Scraps Deal To Sell Sandoz Assets, Nevro Pre-Announces Q1 Shortfall, Affimed Granted Orphan Drug Designation * The Daily Biotech Pulse: InflaRx Begins Human Testing For COVID-induced Pneumonia, Chembio, Becton Dickinson Launch Coronavirus Tests * The Daily Biotech Pulse: Amarin Faces Legal Setback, Milestone Payment Kicks In For CytomX, Savara, Reata Disclose COVID-19 Disruptions(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Can-Fite Receives Notice of Allowance for Namodenoson Patent in the Treatment of NASH & NAFLD from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Can-Fite to Participate in Digital Bio-Europe Spring Partnering Conference; Looks to Partner on Co-Development for Coronavirus Treatment