China’s NMPA gave the nod to Roche Diagnostics (Shanghai) Ltd.’s anti-preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) (EPR 20330) that could help to speed up melanoma diagnosis and improve survival rates.
Alentis Therapeutics SA has closed a $105 million series C round which will fund simultaneous phase II and phase Ib trials of anti-Claudin-1 antibodies in the treatment of organ fibrosis and phase I development in fibrosis-associated cancers. At the same time, the company will extend the reach of its Claudin-1 biology into antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific constructs, to further exploit the role of the transmembrane protein in maintaining cellular integrity and controlling cell-to-cell signaling.
Captor Therapeutics SA has offered an update on its lead programs CT-01, CT-02 and CT-05. In the CT-01 program, CPT-6281 is currently undergoing IND/CTA-enabling studies with the first clinical trial expected to start at the end of the year. The first indication will be in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Likang Life Sciences Holdings Ltd. received approval from China’s NMPA to start a clinical trial of its candidate, LK-101 injection, for advanced solid tumors. The company claims this is the first personalized neoantigen vaccine and mRNA editing product to enter the clinic in China.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men and its rate of incidence is rapidly increasing in women. The development of new therapeutics targeting hepatic cancer stem cells using herbal medicine could shed light on the treatment of HCC.
Since abnormal choline accumulation in cancer cells has been strongly correlated with malignant tumor growth, researchers from Tokyo Medical University aimed to analyze the functional expression of choline transporters in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has emerged as a leading cause of progressive liver disease, even leading to a risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Animal models that mimic the key etiological and histological features of the liver in the context of metabolic dysfunction represent the basis of preclinical research in MAFLD. The aim of work from researchers at Guangdong Pharmaceutical University was to develop a diet-induced murine model of MAFLD progressing to fibrosis and HCC.
Glypican 3 (GPC3) is overexpressed in hepatocellular cancers (HCC), even at very early stages. In contrast, GPC3 is not expressed in normal adult organs. One strategy in place for HCC consists in co-targeting GPC3 and CD3 with bispecific antibodies to activate the latter in order to attack GPC3-positive cancer cells.
