Myriad Genetics Inc. is launching a new suite of genetic tests designed for personalizing chemotherapy treatment. The Precise oncology offering includes Myriad’s precise tumor molecular profile test and two companion diagnostic tests, Mychoice CDx and Bracanalysis CDx. The company said the combination of germline, somatic and companion testing aims to maximize information for oncologists as they assign individual treatment plans. Results from each test are gathered as a single report accessed on an online portal.

Despite big wins in precision oncology – such as last year’s accelerated FDA nod for Amgen Inc.’s Lumakras (sotorasib) in KRAS G12C-mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer – industry has barely scratched the surface of the field’s potential. Part of the problem is on the scientific front. Only about a third of patients are currently eligible for targeted therapy, since the majority of patients “do not have a known therapeutic vulnerability for which we have a drug match,” Keith Flaherty, director of clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital, said during a Feb. 14 session at the BIO CEO & Investor Conference. “And that’s a big problem.”

Anheart Therapeutics Co. Ltd. raised $61 million in a series B round to support the development of a slate of precision oncology pipeline in-licensed by the company from Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. Toward that end, funds will support phase II testing of the Hangzhou, China-based firm’s lead asset, the ROS1 inhibitor taletrectinib, for the potential treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Abbisko Cayman Ltd. has raised $226 million through an IPO in Hong Kong, where it launched with an initial price of HK$12.46 (US$1.60) per share. The company, doing business as Abbisko Therapeutics, plans to use about a third of the proceeds for research and development of its lead candidate, ABSK-091, as a potential treatment for multiple solid tumors.

Abbisko Cayman Ltd. has raised $226 million through an IPO in Hong Kong, where it launched with an initial price of HK$12.46 (US$1.60) per share. The company, doing business as Abbisko Therapeutics, plans to use about a third of the proceeds for research and development of its lead candidate, ABSK-091, a targeted inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor subtypes 1, 2 and 3 intended as a potential treatment for multiple solid tumors, including urothelial cancer, gastric cancer, cholangiocarcinoma and lung cancer.

Although targeted therapies are prescribed on the basis of a patient's molecular makeup, they do not work every time. And in those instances where they do work, they basically stop working every time. In response, researchers have developed a number of systems whose goal it is to predict which drugs will be effective for an individual patients.

Abion Inc., which focuses on precision oncology, raised ₩38.76 billion (US$33.36 million) in its debut on the Korean Stock Exchange’s Kosdaq board on Sept. 8.