Within just a few hours, Molecular Partners AG reported both a potential snag in securing emergency use authorization (EUA) for its DARPin antiviral, ensovibep, and the loss of a half-billion-dollar partnership with Amgen Inc. for phase I-stage 4-1BB-targeting compound MP-0301. While neither update is likely to dampen prospects for the company’s overall DARPin pipeline, the near-term investor disappointment was enough to send shares (NASDAQ:MOLN) falling 38% in morning trading, dropping to their lowest figure since the Zurich, Switzerland-based firm priced its $63.8 million IPO on Nasdaq in June 2021.

Pheast sets table with $76M series A for fighting cancer

Pheast Therapeutics Inc. has raised a $76 million series A financing to develop a pipeline of immune checkpoint inhibitors designed for activating the immune system to fight cancer. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is a Stanford University spinout that researched macrophage checkpoints, which send “don’t eat me” signals. Pheast’s pipeline is targeting a new signaling axis with its CD24 pipeline and plans to combine the inhibitors with existing immunotherapies, tumor-targeting antibodies and chemotherapies. The round was led by Catalio Capital Management and Arch Venture Partners, with participation from Alexandria Venture Investments and Risk and Reward. 

Ashvattha Therapeutics lands $69M series B and Asia licensing deal with Huadong Medicine

Ashvattha Therapeutics Inc. secured $69 million in a series B funding to strengthen its ability to develop hydroxyl dendrimer-based medicines and accelerate efforts to advance its candidates to the clinic. Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd., one of China’s largest pharma companies, led the round and separately inked an exclusive licensing deal with U.S.-based Ashvattha for development and commercialization rights to its pipeline assets in China and parts of southeast Asia.

Arrowhead and Vivo co-launch firm in China with $60M in investment

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Vivo Capital LLC have launched a joint venture named Visirna Therapeutics for RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics in the greater China market. Arrowhead is the majority shareholder of the new entity, while Vivo invested $60 million in the new entity.

Pfizer strikes WEE1 development deal with Zentalis alongside $25M investment

Shares in Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose sharply as Pfizer Inc. invested $25 million and struck a deal to catalyze development of the company’s WEE1 inhibitor ZN-c3, an oral drug designed to make cancer cells self-destruct. WEE1 inhibitors could be the next generation of medicines that exploit a concept known as “synthetic lethality,” using the cellular mechanisms that have gone rogue in cancer cells to engineer their downfall.

MDM2 on the march as degrader, inhibitor strategies tried

Among the attention-getters at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting April 8-13 was protein-degradation specialist Kymera Therapeutics Inc., which made the preclinical case for its approach in murine double minute 2 (MDM2) research vs. an inhibitor. The MDM2 space has grown increasingly busy in recent years, with large and small biopharma concerns moving ahead with research in all phases of development. The MDM2 oncoprotein is the E3 ligase that ubiquitinates and degrades the p53 tumor suppressor, delivering what’s been called the “molecular kiss of death.”

ARPA-H standup dependent on yet-to-be-nominated NIH director

Making his first in-person appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra answered questions today about President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2023 budget that would increase his department’s discretionary budget by nearly 27%. Although the conversation was ridden with political overtones, Becerra faced bipartisan criticism of his decision to house ARPA-H, a new translational research program, at the NIH. Becerra explained his decision, saying the NIH’s administrative expertise was needed to stand up the program. When asked how long it would take to do that, Becerra couldn’t be specific, saying it depended on when a new NIH director is in place. Although Francis Collins announced Oct. 5 that he would be stepping down as NIH director by the end of 2021, Biden has yet to nominate a successor.

Shionogi releases positive results, back on track for COVID-19 treatment

Both early and new mid-stage trial results presented by Shionogi & Co. Ltd. at the 32nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases showed the company’s 3CL protease inhibitor, S-217622, was well-tolerated, with the potential to rapidly clear SARS-CoV-2, Simon Portsmouth, executive medical director at Shionogi, told BioWorld. The trial recorded few discontinuations due to the drug and there were no reports of serious adverse events or death. Shionogi, which already filed seeking regulatory approval for the candidate in Japan, dismissed concerns over animal studies that turned up disturbed fetal development, noting that pregnant, potentially pregnant, and lactating individuals have been excluded from clinical trials of the candidate. A phase III trial is underway.

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