A group of scientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) have overturned a scientific dogma by demonstrating, for the first time, that DNA mutations are not essential for the development of cancer. The researchers temporarily disrupted gene silencing led by Polycomb proteins in fruit flies, and observed that this could produce tumors caused only by epigenetic changes, without permanent changes to the genome.
In a $2.4 billion deal, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. is merging with Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Ono is acquiring all of Deciphera’s outstanding stock shares for $25.60 each in cash. The merger helps Osaka, Japan-based Ono strengthen its oncology portfolio and its presence in the U.S.
Boston-based South Korean biotech Genosco Inc. said on April 25 that it passed a technology review required for the special listing track on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market, as it readies an IPO on the Korea Exchange.
Antibody-drug conjugates are the hot spot for deals in Asia, but investors questioned whether oncology is really the place to be, during the Asia Bio Partnering Forum in Singapore April 24 to 25.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase α (PI3Kα) (H1047R mutant) inhibitors potentially useful for the treatment of cancer have been described in a recent Scorpion Therapeutics Inc. patent.
Researchers from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University and affiliated organizations have reported the identification of a selective cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibitor, CLZX-205, being developed for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
Accession Therapeutics Ltd. has raised £25 million (US$31.3 million) to fund it through the generation of the first clinical data for its lead product, TROCEPT-01 (ATTR-01), and completion of IND-enabling studies for a second program. The internal early-stage pipeline will also be progressed.
Alligator Bioscience AB reported that Orion Corp. has selected the lead bispecific antibodies from the companies’ second development program, and is exercising its option to develop these molecules under the existing 2021 research collaboration and license agreement.