Rakuten Medical Inc. raised $100 million in a series F round to support late-stage clinical development of ASP-1929, its Alluminox-derived photoimmunotherapy being tested with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) as a first-line treatment for recurrent head and neck cancer.
Researchers from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Marengo Therapeutics Inc. previously developed a first-in-class, bifunctional therapeutic molecule (STAR-0602) that selectively activates V β6 and V β10 T-cell receptor-expressing T cells and boosts antitumor responses in human ex vivo tumor models.
Pinotbio Inc. recently reported a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), named PBX-004, consisting of an ITGB6-targeting antibody conjugated to a potent topoisomerase I (TOP1) inhibitor payload.
At the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, Frontier Medicines Corp. presented a first-in-class covalent activator of p53 Y220C with high potency and selectivity in restoring p53 tumor suppressor function.
Individuals with the inherited disorder Fanconi anemia cannot properly repair damage to their DNA, increasing risk of cancers such as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Genmab A/S is paying $8 billion to acquire Merus NV, gaining rights to the latter’s phase III-stage petosemtamab, a bispecific antibody initially in development for head and neck cancer, and continuing the firm’s strategy to transition from a royalty-based operation to a fully integrated biopharma.
Rakuten Medical Inc. is advancing a pipeline of solid tumor therapeutics built on its Alluminox platform worldwide, having gained conditional early approval of ASP-1929, an Alluminox-derived photoimmunotherapy, in Japan in 2020.
When used as monotherapy against tumors, small molecules that mimic the SMAC protein and thereby inhibit apoptosis are ineffective. The same is true for inhibitors of BET family proteins. If each therapy on its own does not work, what about the two therapies together?
Prognosis is extremely poor for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), which accounts for around 90% of all head and neck cancer. Especially in the more aggressive subtype of HNSCC that is not associated with human papilloma virus infection, the natural killer cells that could fight HNSCC tumors are inhibited within the tumor microenvironment, in part because of the hypoxic conditions.
Innocare Pharma Ltd. has obtained IND approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to initiate a clinical trial of the B7-H3 targeted antibody-drug conjugate.
