Astrazeneca plc is beefing up its cell therapy capabilities in immuno-oncology by acquiring Neogene Therapeutics BV for an initial outlay of $200 million. There’s up to $120 million more on the table for undisclosed milestones and what the companies called a “non-contingent consideration.” Even without the additional earnouts, the deal represents a profitable return for Neogene’s shareholders. The Amsterdam-based firm had raised $110 million in a series A round in 2020, which represented the largest A round in Europe that year. Since then, it has started to move its first program, an autologous engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) T-cell therapy directed against up to five neoantigens, toward a phase I trial in patients with solid tumors.

Molecure SA has received clearance from the Polish Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products to conduct the first clinical trial of OATD-02.

Trophoblast glycoprotein, also known as 5T4, is widely expressed in several solid tumors; cluster of differentiation 47 (CD47) is an ubiquitous immune checkpoint receptor that is also overexpressed in many solid tumors as well as in hematological cancers. A Yuhan Corp. research team has presented preclinical results on YH-38560, a bispecific fusion protein that targets both 5T4 and CD4 for the potential treatment of solid tumors.

Catalym GmbH raised €50 million (US$51.3 million) in a series C round to expand and accelerate phase IIa development of visugromab (CTL-002), a first-in-class growth differentiation factor 15 inhibitor, across a range of solid tumor indications.

Researchers from Carisma Therapeutics Inc. have provided details on the discovery and preclinical evaluation of a novel mesothelin-targeting chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M), CT-1119, being developed as a potential solid tumor immunotherapy candidate.

At the recent Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer meeting, researchers from Dong-A ST Co. Ltd. presented preclinical data for the novel small-molecule general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) inhibitor, DA-4507, being developed for the treatment of cancer.

Kinimmune Inc. has received US$400,000 in funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its phase I STTR application to advance the preclinical development of KIN-102, an immunostimulant for intratumoral injection that is designed to turn cold tumors hot for synergy with immuno-oncology drugs, such as checkpoint inhibitors.

Zhuhai Beihai Biotech Co. Ltd. has raised nearly ¥200 million (US$27.5 million) in a series B round slated to support clinical trials for its lead candidates as well as preparations to file an NDA for its core asset, BH-009.