A move by Chimerix Inc. to strengthen its balance sheet by $225 million through the sale of smallpox drug Tembexa (brincidofovir) to biodefense specialist Emergent Biosolutions Inc. and extend its cash runway into 2026, should have proved a big win. Instead, shares (NASDAQ:CMRX) plunged nearly 61% May 16 on worry that Chimerix might be handing off a likely profitable program to fund a riskier oncology pipeline, a concern heightened by recent U.S. FDA feedback indicating lead oncology program ONC-201 might not be eligible for accelerated approval as previously expected.
As the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting prepares to kick off on May 12, newly published prostate cancer guidelines recommend two tests to help clinicians and patients determine the best path forward for treatment—or waiting. The latest AUA guidelines incorporated Exact Sciences Corp.’s Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) test for risk-stratification of localized prostate cancer, while the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) added Cleveland Diagnostics Inc.’s Isopsa test to help identify high-grade early prostate cancer before a biopsy or after a negative biopsy result.
With cancer treatment success rates rising, the field of precision oncology is poised to grow as clinicians aim to move treatment from a one size fits all approach to personalized treatment regimens. Israeli startups including Oncohost Ltd., Nucleai Ltd. and Gina Life Diagnostics Ltd. are part of an emerging wave of companies utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to personalize the future of cancer diagnostics.
Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a promising approach to cancer cell therapy that could provide a new option for people whose cancers have not responded to previous lines of treatment – and Denmark’s Cbio A/S is heading to the clinic with a new contender in the field. Delegates at the Anglonordic Life Science Conference in London, held on May 5, heard from CEO Ulrik Cordes, who explained the company aims to outperform rivals from Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc. and Instil Bio Inc. with its proprietary approach to TIL.
Privately held Amphista Therapeutics Ltd. has cut massive deals with two biopharma giants, Merck KGaA and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS), that together could bring the company up to $2.25 billion. The companies will use Amphista’s Eclipsys platform to generate protein degrader-based therapeutics. Merck is looking to discover and develop small-molecule protein degraders for treating cancer and immune disease. Indications in the BMS deal were not announced.
A lack of funding for combination therapies in the U.K. could hold back investment in the country’s biopharma sector – but there are moves afoot to find ways around the issue, pinned by industry on the way the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) assesses the value of drugs.
After raising $17 million in seed funding, immunotherapy-focused biotech company, LTZ Therapeutics Inc., is announcing plans for the fledgling company whose acronym stands for “Lift to Zenith.” CEO and co-founder Robert Li told BioWorld that the company’s three-tiered immunotherapy platform will focus on reducing immunosuppression, reprogramming innate immunity and modulating adaptive immunity.
For Kevin Friedman, the secret to making newly emergent Kelonia Therapeutics Inc. a success is reducing complexity and keeping everything as simple as possible. The Boston-based company just raised $50 million in series A funding to further its development of genetic medicines encompassing a range of diseases.
Citing the flexibilities implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition is pushing to convert those improvements to a permanent paradigm shift in the way cancer patients are diagnosed, treated and cared for across the globe.
With renewed focus on the U.S. Cancer Moonshot, the price of oncology drugs is more than a satellite issue, especially as new drugs launch with ever-increasing prices and other cancer drugs continue to see price hikes.
