Closely watched-for phase I data from Elevation Oncology Inc. in the Claudin 18.2 space sent shares of the Boston-based firm (NASDAQ:ELEV) down 63%, or $1.35, to close Aug. 6 at 78 cents. Elevation provided initial data from the dose-escalation portion of the ongoing experiment with antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) EO-3021 in patients with advanced, unresectable or metastatic solid tumors likely to express Claudin 18.2, including gastric, gastroesophageal junction (GEJ), pancreatic or esophageal cancers.
Ideaya Biosciences Inc. bought global rights to Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s cancer-targeting bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (bsADC) program in a deal reaching up to $406.5 million. Announced July 31, San Francisco-based Ideaya agreed to license-in global rights to Biocytogen’s B7H3/PTK7 bispecific ADC program with topoisomerase-I (TOP1) payload to develop as either a monotherapy or combination therapy for solid tumors.
After reaching a height in 2021, seed and series A rounds have fallen in recent years, and 2024 is no exception, although amounts raised are tracking slightly ahead of last year. On July 23, the numbers were given a boost when two new companies – namely Dover, Del.-based Brenig Therapeutics Inc. and Boston-based Third Arc Bio Inc. – raised $65 million and $165 million, respectively, in series A financings. A third new company, Abiologics Inc., also received $50 million in initial funding.
As the “most concrete achievement” since its entry into the radiopharmaceutical therapy space last year, SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. picked up rights to Full-Life Technologies Ltd.’s RPT asset, FL-091, in a deal fetching up to $571.5 million.
Mutations in the metabolic enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) induce tumorigenesis due to generation of the oncometabolite (R)-2-hydroxyglutarate (R-2HG). A hallmark of solid tumors carrying mutations in IDH1 is immune evasion by T-cell exclusion and altered epigenetic state. Researchers from the Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital have published a study in Science on July 12, 2024, in which they demonstrate that inhibiting mutant IDH1 restored antitumoral immunity.
As the “most concrete achievement” since its entry into the radiopharmaceutical therapy space last year, SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. picked up rights to Full-Life Technologies Ltd.’s RPT asset, FL-091, in a deal fetching up to $571.5 million.
Catalym GmbH has closed a $150 million series D to take its first in class immune potentiator visugromab into phase IIb development in a number of solid tumors. The round follows on the heels of data from a phase I/IIa trial which showed visugromab in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor antibody Opdivo (nivolumab, Bristol Myers Squibb) increased T-cell infiltration and generated durable antitumor responses in patients who had exhausted all other treatment options.
Ipsen SA and Foreseen Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. have entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement for FS-001, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets a novel tumor-associated antigen highly expressed across a range of solid tumors that was identified through the application of Foreseen’s proprietary proteomic platforms.
Myricx Bio (Myricx Pharma Ltd.), a spin out from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute, has closed a series A financing raising £90 million ($114 million) to support its work focused on the discovery and development of a novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
