Minghui Pharmaceutical Ltd. announced it is raising $131 million in a pre-IPO financing round Aug. 7. The funds will be used to advance its cancer and inflammatory disease pipeline, which include a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, antibody-drug conjugates and a topical Janus kinase inhibitor. The round was led by a new investor, Orbimed, and co-led by Qiming Venture Partners. Further support came from an existing investor, TF Capital, and seven new investors including Biotrack Capital, 5Y Capital, New Day Fund and Wider Link Enterprise Investment Ltd.
US government chalks up more court wins on Rx negotiations
Drug companies and organizations challenging the Medicare drug negotiations have yet to convince a U.S. court that the process, mandated by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, violates the Constitution. The most recent decisions came this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Aug. 7 against Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and the Sixth Circuit ruled Aug. 6 against a challenge filed by the Dayton, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber, and the Ohio and Michigan Chambers.
OX40 making strides in atopic dermatitis
The OX40 pathway remains tantalizing to drug developers in atopic dermatitis (AD). Also known as CD134 and part of the TNF superfamily, the protein receptor on the surface of T cells is a key to immune response, serving as a costimulatory molecule that boosts T-cell activation. Two monoclonal antibodies have reached the late clinical stage. AD remains hot as an indication, too. Nektar Therapeutics Inc. this summer rolled out phase IIb data with fast-onset rezpegaldesleukin, an IL-2 pathway agonist and regulatory T-cell proliferator.
2025 biopharma financing falls from last year, beats 2022-2023
Biopharma companies raised $34.89 billion through financings in the first seven months of 2025, including $5.66 billion in July, down from $7.38 billion in June. This year’s total falls short of $74.03 billion in the first seven months of 2024 and more than $80 billion in 2020 and 2021. However, 2025 is on track to outperform post-pandemic lows of 2022 and 2023, when the seven-month totals reached $33.14 billion and $36.47 billion, respectively.
Nociceptors infiltrate tumors and promote immunosuppression
In the tumor microenvironment, cancer cells activate various signaling pathways to promote their growth. This includes the formation of blood vessels. But the circulatory system is not the only one attracted to the tumor. Researchers at Sanford Research have uncovered a mechanism to circumvent the immune response that would destroy them. Sensory neurons known as nociceptors, which are specialized in detecting harmful stimuli, respond to the signal from tumor extracellular vesicles to infiltrate and enhance immunosuppression.
Also in the news
Absci, Adma, Almirall, Assembly, Belite, Braintree, Chai, Coherus, Cormedix, Cullinan, Cybin, Eledon, Eli Lilly, Faron, Fibrogen, Jazz, Intas, Keros, Maxwell, Melinta, Novo Nordisk, OS Therapies, Processa, Prothena, OS, Palisade, Sana, Sellas, Snipr Biome, Spinogenix, Strand, Therabene, Valneva