A trio of European cancer vaccines specialists have filed progress reports, with advances in technology and targeting, fresh infusions of cash, and off-the-shelf products moving into the clinic. Six years on from its formation, Ervimmune closed a series A at €17 million (US$19.9 million) to drive forward clinical development of lead program Ervac-01. Accession Therapeutics Ltd. raised a further £30.5 million (US$40.4 million) from its existing investors, following dosing of four patients with Trocept-01. And Infinitopes Ltd. added $15.4 million to its seed round, as it finalizes preparations for a phase I/IIa trial of the lead product ITOP-1. There was less cheery news from a fourth European cancer vaccine specialist, IO Biotech ApS, which is exploring its strategic options after narrowly missing statistical significance in the phase III trial of IOB-013 in advanced melanoma.

Tanabe’s dersimelagon hits phase III endpoint in rare disorder

After selling off amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapeutics last month, Tanabe Pharma America Inc. emerged a forerunner in another rare disease space with positive top-line phase III data of dersimelagon (MT-7117) for erythropoietic protoporphyria/X-linked protoporphyria (EPP/XLP). Dersimelagon is a novel small-molecule drug candidate that selectively activates the melancortin-1 receptor, found mainly in skin and hair follicle cells. Administered orally, the therapy increases melanin production to increase pain-free light exposure in EPP/XLP patients. The global phase III Inspire study met the primary endpoint, defined as the time to first prodromal symptoms (burning, tingling, itching or stinging) associated with sunlight exposure.

Congressional spending agreement avoids HHS slash-and-burn cuts

The good news is that the U.S. Congress is on track to pass a slate of fiscal 2026 spending bills before the current continuing resolution expires in nine days. So, barring any last-minute disputes or legislative hostage-taking, there should be no repeat of last year’s 43-day shutdown. More good news is that House and Senate appropriators ignored President Donald Trump’s funding proposal that would have cut the total Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretionary funding to $98 billion, while slashing the NIH by 40% and the CDC by 54%. Instead, the bipartisan agreement the House is expected to vote on this week, followed by a Senate vote next week, maintains relatively flat funding for the department and most of its agencies.

Double-target CD122 draws effort by developers large and small

Drugmakers continue to be intrigued by prospects with CD122, the shared beta subunit of the IL-15 and IL-2 receptors, each a target of importance on their own. Such indications as celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis are in the crosshairs. Among the players are Anaptysbio Inc., Forte Biosciences Inc., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Study uncovers pathogenic variants of Lynch syndrome

A new method, based on gene editing with oligonucleotides and functional analyses, identifies which variants of DNA repair genes associated with Lynch syndrome are truly harmful and which are not. Scientists at The Netherlands Cancer Institute have developed this technique and classified these gene variants in both coding and noncoding regions, distinguishing those that are pathogenic from those that are benign. The results will enable more reliable diagnoses and an improved follow-up for patients. “The assay that we developed can be transferred into clinical diagnostics labs,” Hein te Riele, research group leader of gene modification at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, told BioWorld. te Riele is the senior author of the paper describing the cellular assay and pathogenicity of Lynch syndrome genes, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Jan. 16, 2026.

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