Targeting glycosylated PD-1 immune checkpoint may be a promising new cancer immunotherapeutic strategy, according to a collaborative study led by Taiwanese researchers, which was reported online in the March 10, 2020, edition of Cancer Research.

Dragonfly Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has expanded a strategic collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. on the development of natural killer (NK) cell engager immunotherapies for oncology to add infectious disease and immune disorders. For $47.5 million up front, it's granting Merck the option to license exclusive rights to candidates developed using its TriNKET cell technology platform.

Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, of Tuebingen, Germany, and Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp. plan to merge as Immatics NV. Immatics will receive gross proceeds of up to $252 million at closing, which is expected in the second quarter of 2020.

PERTH, Australia – Immutep Ltd. reported positive interim data for its phase II basket trial in non-small-cell lung cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma for its lead immunotherapy in combination with Merck & Co. Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

PERTH, Australia – Sydney-based Immutep Ltd. reported positive interim data for its phase II basket trial in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma for its lead immunotherapy in combination with Merck & Co. Inc.’s anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

In the Dec. 20, 2019, issue of Science, Stefan Kaufmann, who is the founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, and his colleagues report that the immune system could calibrate its response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa by monitoring the bacterial quorum sensing chatter.

Unveiled by Oxfordshire, U.K.-based Immunocore Ltd. at the November meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in National Harbor, Md., were encouraging new findings from the phase I/II study with tebentafusp (also known as IMC-gp100), a bispecific protein in the pivotal works for metastatic uveal melanoma (MUM). The results showed a correlation between treatment-induced immune response and improvement in overall survival (OS) and tumor shrinkage in advanced uveal as well as cutaneous melanoma.

BEIJING – Chinese T-cell immunotherapy specialist Immunotech Biopharm Ltd., of Beijing, has become the seventh pre-revenue biotech on the waiting list to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). In an application filed last week, the specific amount was not disclosed, but company said much of the proceeds are expected to advance its lead candidate targeting liver cancer.

BEIJING – Chinese T-cell immunotherapy specialist Immunotech Biopharm Ltd., of Beijing, has become the seventh pre-revenue biotech on the waiting list to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). In an application filed this week, the specific amount was not disclosed, but company said much of the proceeds are expected to advance its lead candidate targeting liver cancer.