Insamo Inc., founded in 2022 to combine machine-learning capabilities, high-throughput screening and genetic engineering to create orally administered membrane-permeable cyclic peptides across a range of disease areas, emerged from stealth with $12 million in seed funding from Playground Global, Venbio and MRL Ventures Fund. The company, which has operations in both the U.S. and Australia, is putting its platform to the test initially against two well-validated targets: IL-4, the focus of Dupixent (dupilumab, Sanofi SA/Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.), and TNFR1, considered a next-generation TNF target.

With three lead assets, Tiumbio tackles rare and incurable diseases

Hun-taek Kim founded Tiumbio Co. Ltd. in 2016 after spending more than two decades at a major chemical and life science firm, SK Chemicals Co. Ltd. “The prospects for our three major assets are very bright, and the probability of failure is low,” CEO Kim told BioWorld. “We’re looking for a breakthrough in rare diseases – to develop new treatments for [niche] markets with large unmet demand.” Tiumbio, an acronym of the company’s slogan of “True Innovation for Ultimate Health of Mankind,” draws its name from the Korean word “tium,” or to sprout – offering shoots of hope for those living with painful conditions without a cure.

Bladder cancer bids picking up speed 

The first – and handsomely upsized – IPO of this year by CG Oncology Inc., along with the sizeable financing Feb. 14 by Engene Holdings Inc., proved Wall Street’s interest in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), where a number of other players also are busy. CG, of Irvine, Calif., which has CG-0070 as its lead candidate, raised $389 million through its IPO, while Engene, with offices in Boston and Montreal, raised $200 million in a private placement to fund development of EG-70.

BIO CEO 2024: Prepping for better times

Helping executive and investors prepare for better economic times is a strong theme in the upcoming BIO CEO 2024 conference, which runs Feb. 26 and 27 in New York. The annual conference, sponsored by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, is designed to present a broad, unbiased view of investment opportunities. Panels of experts are set to discuss hot therapeutic areas and the key business issues facing companies and the industry. Session topics include how to recognize patterns in strategic M&A during down markets, understanding the environment for drug pricing during a U.S. presidential election year, ways to smooth genetic medicines’ path to scalability and managing the future of vaccine pipelines. More than 1,000 attendees are expected from hundreds of companies around the globe.

Keytruda biosimilars ramp up; Samsung Bioepis starts phase I

Amid intensifying competition in the PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint space, Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. kicked off a phase I study of SB-27, a biosimilar of Merck & Co Inc.’s blockbuster immunotherapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab), for lung cancer. Merck’s Keytruda is a PD-1 inhibitor approved to treat various tumor types and cancers including melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer and head and neck cancer. In 2023 alone, Keytruda generated $25 billion in sales – a 19% jump from $20.9 billion in 2022. Keytruda, in addition to immunotherapy rivals, is challenged by an advancing brigade of biosimilars in development as the biologic faces an eventual patent cliff. Key patents in Europe and the U.S. are slated to expire in June 2028 and November 2036, respectively.

Explore BioWorld’s comprehensive infographics collection

Discover a wealth of industry insights with BioWorld’s extensive collection of infographics, covering the latest trends and developments in both biopharma and med-tech. Our weekly infographics are curated to provide concise summaries of key topics: financings (IPOs, private financings, public/other and follow-on offerings), deals and M&As (top deals, and monthly value and volume), regulatory (including U.S. FDA and worldwide approvals), clinical trials and more. In addition, you’ll find access to BioWorld’s year-in-review reports, as well as special infographics about obesity, pain and addiction, biosimilars and the aging space.

Also in the news

Affamed, Argenx, ARS, Arvinas, Astrazeneca, Avidity, Ayala, Bavarian Nordic, Bayer, Blue Earth, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cellenkos, Celltrion, Certa, Daiichi Sankyo, Disc Medicine, Emergent Biosolutions, Genentech, Harmony, Hox, Immuneering, Innovent, Inveniai, Iovance, Isomab, Iterion, Jacobio, Jazz, Kalivir, Kalvista, Mabwell, Matinas, Merck, Monopar, MRM Health, Neurophth, Nextpoint, NMDP, Olatec, Omnix Medical, Ono, Otsuka, Pepgen, Pfizer, Pharmather, Philogen, Poltreg, Prime Medicine, Rapt, Saghmos, Sairiyo, Scilex, Servier, Synthekine, Teva, Tevogen, Tharimmune, Ultimovacs, United, Vaccinex, Venatorx, Vernalis