C4 Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on destroying disease-causing proteins via degradation, has closed a $170 million financing intended to help move four cancer candidates into the clinic by the end of 2022.
Positive preclinical data from Phio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., propelled the company stock (NASDAQ:PHIO) dramatically upward, about 86%, at midday Friday only to see it finally settle at a more modest 36.16% increase to close May 29 at $3.05.
The impact of COVID-19 is being felt at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting as much as anywhere else, typically held at McCormick Place in Chicago but this year conducted virtually because of the pandemic.
Backers in Tango Therapeutics Inc.’s $60 million series B round represent “a group of really smart crossovers who normally don’t come in quite this early” and “hung in there” during some especially hard times on Wall Street recently, CEO Barbara Weber told BioWorld. “We were about to sign the term sheet the first time the market crashed, which was a little nerve-wracking.”
DUBLIN – Without particularly looking for a deal, immunometabolism specialist Sitryx Ltd. landed quite a large one – a licensing agreement in autoimmune disease with Eli Lilly and Co. involving up to four preclinical programs, for which it is receiving $50 million up front, $10 million as equity investment and up to $820 million in development milestones.
Oncopeptides AB remains on track for an NDA filing in the second quarter for its peptide-drug conjugate, melflufen, in relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).
DUBLIN – The middle of a pandemic may not be the optimal time to launch an oncology-focused company, but Klosterneuburg, Austria-based Oncoone Research & Development GmbH unveiled a €13 million (US$14.1 million) series A round Wednesday, March 18, and laid out plans to develop several different approaches to targeting an immunologically distinct form of a ubiquitous inflammatory cytokine, which is unique to cancer cells and which is associated with a poor prognosis.
Abpro Therapeutics Inc. has granted an exclusive license to Abpro Bio Co. Ltd., the former Ugint Co. Ltd., to develop and commercialize two bispecific antibodies in Asian markets, including greater China, Japan and South Korea.
Sadly, a major part of the answer to why drugs are so expensive appears to be “because they can be.” But the high cost of drugs has also spurred a number of attempts to find medicines that are innovative but remain affordable. Drug repurposing, or using a drug that has been developed for one ailment to treat a different one, is one such strategy.
HONG KONG – MBD Co. Ltd. and Azothbio Inc., both based in South Korea, have entered an agreement for rare cancer drug development using an AI-powered drug discovery platform.
