Eureka Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a license agreement with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop and commercialize a novel antibody targeting mesothelin (MSLN) in combination with Eureka's proprietary Artemis T-cell receptor platform.
Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital London have reported the first successful use of base-edited donor T cells, in the treatment of refractory T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. The case of a 13-year-old girl named Alyssa, whose disease had not responded to chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, was presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in New Orleans on Dec. 11, 2022.
Elevatebio LLC and Affini-T Therapeutics Inc. have entered into a partnership to advance Affini-T's engineered T-cell therapies focused on KRAS, an oncogenic driver mutation in solid tumor cancers.
Preclinical data on a novel T-cell therapy based on engineered autologous regulatory T cells (GNTI-122, EngTregs) for the potential treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D) were presented by Gentibio Inc.
Atara Biotherapeutics Inc.’s eagerly awaited update on the phase II Embold study testing ATA-188 in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) left investors scratching their heads, and shares (NASDAQ:ATRA) closed at $3.89, down $4.77, or 55%.
Before taking on the role of CEO at Bluesphere Bio Inc., David Apelian would have said the most exciting work he’d done in immuno-oncology had been at Globeimmune Inc., where he’d served as chief medical officer for more than a decade, working in the field of cancer immunotherapy “back when no one believed the immune system would be something we could leverage against cancer.”
Century Therapeutics Inc.’s $3.25 billion deal with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) was the largest of four billion-dollar-plus agreements announced Dec. 10, piggybacking on a busy week that includes the start of the 40th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
Vigencell Inc., a company focused on immune cell therapy, raised ₩99.4 (US$85.17 million) through an IPO on South Korea’s Kosdaq board and plans to use the funds to drive its R&D and company operations. “We particularly want to increase the competitiveness of our pipeline by advancing our technology and clinical development,” Vigencell CEO Tai-Gyu Kim told BioWorld. “We will also expand our discovery of new candidates and R&D in general, as well as updating our facilities and hiring researchers.”
Getting cell therapies to work against solid tumors is proving difficult – but two biopharma firms have begun early-stage studies with technologies that aim to crack this tough nut. Gadeta B.V. and Apeiron Biologics AG are using two different approaches to cell therapy that they hope will be effective against tough-to-treat solid tumors.
Allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR T) specialist Allogene Therapeutics Inc.’s promise of data readouts at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, along with the virtual CD19 forum slated by the company for May 19, whetted investor thirst in the space.
