Day: October 1, 2022

BlackRock Joins Institutional Giants With New Blockchain ETF

With a new ETF launched by BlackRock, crypto assets are gaining momentum.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is launching a blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Europe. The company seeks to offer similar advantages as the ETF launched in America to its European institutional clients.

New Crypto ETF For European Markets

BlackRock announced on 29 September its launch of the iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ET, which will track the New York Stock Exchange’s FactSet Global Blockchain Technologies Capped Index.

The index is linked to 35 companies around the world and listed on Euronext under the ticker $BLKC.

“We believe digital assets and blockchain technologies are going to become increasingly relevant for our clients as use cases develop in scope, scale, and complexity,” said Omar Moufti, BlackRock’s product strategist for thematic and sector ETFs.

The global asset manager seems to take a positive, determined stance on cryptocurrency. BlackRock has been rather proactive in engaging in the crypto-powered financial market revolution.

In early August, the company announced it collaborated with Coinbase to offer bitcoin transactions to its institutional clients. Additionally, it enables US institutional clients to invest in BTC through a newly launched private trust. Now, BlackRock sets up a blockchain ETF in Europe.

Exposure to blockchain enterprises and crypto businesses is going to be provided by the iShares Blockchain Technology UCITS ETF in the near future.

It is anticipated that 75% of the index’s exposure will come from companies whose primary business is functioning in a blockchain-related industry.

This encompasses cryptocurrency miners as well as exchanges. Companies that contribute to the blockchain ecosystem make up roughly 25% of the index’s total exposure.

Looking Up in The Crypto Space

Although prior to that, BlackRock held a more pessimistic outlook toward cryptocurrencies. In 2017, the Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Larry Fink, referred to Bitcoin as an index of money laundering and a sign for operations related to money laundering.

This indicates that actions on the Bitcoin network and the price of Bitcoin have a strong correlation with the act of money laundering.

Nevertheless, BlackRock’s perspective has shifted as a result of changes brought about by the demands of the market and its clients. As a firm that is focused on providing customers with long-term financial benefits,

BlackRock places bets on the possibility that the cryptocurrency market will experience significant growth over the long run.

Financial Institutions Advocate For Clear Regulations

After a significant period of a bear market, October is a month that is eagerly anticipated. Investors are holding out hope that it will bring about a fresh positive change, specifically a bull run.

Recently, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, proposed facilitating the process of regulating bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

As long as the cryptocurrency market is subject to oversight, the director of the CFTC predicts that the price of bitcoin will continue to increase in the near future. Financial institutions will be encouraged to invest in cryptocurrency markets if clear regulations are implemented.

It’s the potential motivation behind the Senate Agriculture Committee’s decision to back the CFTC in its bid to become the first regulator of the bitcoin industry. In any event, Behnam voted in favor of the law that would authorize it to impose fees on organizations that it regulates.

After crypto regulations are put into place, the CFTC, which is going to be the principal regulator of crypto assets in the United States, anticipates a more promising future. In the event that this action is taken, institutions will rush to buy Bitcoin, which would lead to an increase in the price of Bitcoin.

On the other hand, many investors are just sitting tight and waiting for the market to improve. According to the CFTC, this is an absolutely necessary condition. We can only hope that this forecast is accurate.

ImmunOs Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Joseph Leveque, MD, to its Board of Directors

– Seasoned immuno-oncology executive brings significant medical and biopharma expertise

ImmunOs Therapeutics AG, a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its HLA-based technology platform to develop first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, today announced that Joseph Leveque, MD, has been appointed to the Company´s Board of Directors.

Dr. Leveque has over a decade of experience in the development of immuno-oncology therapeutics. He is currently President, Chief Medical Officer, and a Board Member of Medikine. Prior to Medikine, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Mirati Therapeutics (Nasdaq:MRTX), where he was responsible for the clinical development of their portfolio of selective KRAS inhibitors and other small molecules for cancer therapy. Dr. Leveque’s previous roles include Chief Medical Officer of Synthorx, a company focused on the application of synthetic biology in the discovery and development of cytokines that was acquired by Sanofi, and Chief Medical Officer of ARMO Biosciences, an immuno-oncology company that was acquired by Eli Lilly.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Leveque was Chief Medical Officer of EMD Serono, the North American subsidiary of Merck KGaA, and Vice President and Head of US Medical Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he was part of the team developing and commercializing the first generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics. He also held key medical leadership positions at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Cephalon Oncology, and Amgen.

“We are delighted to welcome Joe Leveque to our Board of Directors,” said Sean R. Smith, Chief Executive Officer at ImmunOs Therapeutics. “He not only adds significant medical and biopharma expertise in the immuno-oncology space to our board, but he also has strong leadership experience, product development expertise, and a broad biopharma industry network which will be extremely valuable for ImmunOs, especially as we transition to a clinical-stage company with a broad immuno-oncology and autoimmune pipeline.”

“I am impressed by ImmunOs´ unique approach of developing HLA-based immune-modulating agents,” said Joseph Leveque, MD, member of ImmunOs Therapeutics´ Board of Directors. “This is a totally novel concept for targeted immune modulation which addresses both the adaptive and innate immune systems. I believe that the Company´s emerging pipeline has significant potential for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, and I am excited to help advance the Company´s lead program into the clinic and further strengthen its relationships with global pharma companies.”

Dr. Leveque received a BS in Biology and Mathematics from Santa Clara University, an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and an MD from The University of Texas School of Medicine in Houston, TX. He completed his post-graduate medical training in internal medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a teaching affiliate of the University of California, Los Angeles.

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About ImmunOs Therapeutics AG

ImmunOs Therapeutics AG leverages its HLA-based technology platform to develop first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Company has identified specific HLA molecules known to activate the immune system and is utilizing these HLA molecules as the backbone of novel therapies capable of stimulating both the innate and the adaptive immune systems of cancer patients to eliminate tumor cells. ImmunOs’ lead program is a multi-functional fusion protein that blocks specific LILRB (leukocyte immunoglobulin-like) and KIR (killer cell immunoglobulin-like) receptors and activates anti-tumor responses. ImmunOs is also developing antibodies to block the activation of specific HLA protein molecules associated with autoimmune diseases.

The Company is supported by leading international investors including Samsara BioCapital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Gimv, Pfizer Ventures, BioMed Partners, Schroder Adveq, Mission BioCapital, GL Capital, PEAK6, and Fiscus. ImmunOs is located in Schlieren, Switzerland, and Gaithersburg, MD, USA