Australia’s Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is advancing a potential challenger to Novartis plc’s dominant prostate cancer radioligand therapy, Pluvicto (lutetium [177Lu] vipivotide tetraxetan), after reporting that the safety lead-in portion of its global phase III Prostact trial met its primary objectives.
Astellas Pharma Inc. and Vir Biotechnology Inc. have signed a global co-development pact to advance VIR-5500, Vir’s PRO-XTEN dual-masked CD3 T-cell engager targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen for treating prostate cancer. Under the deal terms, San Francisco-based Vir will receive $335 million in up-front and near-term payments, including $240 million in cash, $75 million in equity investment and a $20 million near-term milestone. Vir is also eligible to receive up to $1.37 billion in development, regulatory and sales-based milestones plus royalties on ex-U.S. sales.
On the heels of more positive early data from the lead program derived from its tumor-activated T-cell engager (TRACTr) platform, Janux Therapeutics Inc. inked a collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. that comes with $50 million in up-front and near-term milestone payments, with the possibility of up to $800 million more tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Lunan New Time Biotechnical Co. Ltd. has identified new camptothecin derivatives and their antibody-drug conjugates reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. has announced that its priorities for the coming year include a focus on the company’s Inducer T-cell engager platform, where preclinical studies have demonstrated robust silencing and reduction of off-tumor toxicity.
Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. plans a signal-verifying phase II trial next year after making known the positive interim data from an ongoing phase I/II trial testing molecular glue degrader MRT-2359 in combination with androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor Xtandi (enzalutamide, Astellas Pharma Inc.). The investigation targeted heavily pretreated patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer bearing AR mutations.
Qingdao Putaike Biomedical Technology Co. Ltd. has divulged hydrophobic tag-based degraders comprising heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) ligands covalently linked to an androgen receptor (AR)-targeting moiety through a linker acting as AR degradation inducers reported to be useful for the treatment of acne, androgenic alopecia, hirsutism, metabolic disorders, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
The recommendation by a committee advising the U.K. government that screening for prostate cancer should not be made available to the vast majority of men could benefit companies such as Antegenes OÜ. The Estonia-based company develops polygenic risk score-based testing kits which help clarify an individual's genetic predisposition to specific cancers, providing a more targeted approach.
Cornell University and The General Hospital Corp. (Massachusetts General Hospital) have synthesized conjugates comprising a targeting moiety covalently linked to a radiolabeled metal chelator through a linker acting as positron emission tomography (PET) or single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) imaging agents reported to be useful for diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
