Flindr Therapeutics BV has raised €20 million (US$21.4 million) in a series A round to advance small-molecule immune modulators aimed at targets it has identified in cancer patients who respond to existing immunotherapies.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is still an uncurable disease. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells directed to tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 17, also known as BCMA, have transformed the field, with high response rate and durable remissions, but the access to this therapy is limited by multiple factors.

As of Jan. 31, 2024, there were more than 300 CAR T trials registered in China, surpassing the U.S. and becoming the country with the most CAR T therapy clinical trials. Among them, CD19 is the most frequently studied target, according to BioWorld and Cortellis. The rapid evolution of CAR T-cell therapies in China has escalated over the past decade from the start of the first clinical trials in 2013 to the country becoming an established host for CAR T-cell-related trials by 2017, according to Yongxian Hu and researchers from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. Chinese cell therapy companies – backed by $2.37 billion in funding in 2021 – have since significantly increased basic research and trial output for CAR Ts, which was welcomed by large patient demand.

China’s CAR T market is expected to grow from $72 million in 2022 to $342 million over the next decade. There are currently more than 400 CAR T therapies in the pipeline in China, and most of these are being developed by specialized Chinese biotechs. Research by Clarivate plc, BioWorld’s parent company, indicates that a notable proportion of CAR T-cell therapies in late-phase development in China are being developed through strategic partnerships and joint ventures between multinational corporations and domestic companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Nanjing Legend Biotech Corp., Juno Therapeutics Inc. and Wuxi Apptec Co. Ltd., and CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd.

Corner Therapeutics Inc. raised $54 million in a series A financing to create vaccines to protect against cancer and infectious diseases by helping the immune system engineer T cells. The company’s core interest is in advancements in immunotherapy through direct manipulation of T cells, which are the “keys to the kingdom for any cancer therapy,” Nick Seaver, Corner’s chief business officer, told BioWorld.

Verismo Therapeutics Inc. has submitted an IND application to the FDA seeking to initiate a phase I trial this year of Synkir-310 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (B-cell NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma and marginal zone lymphoma.

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has received a multiyear $6 million award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to develop innovative stem cell approaches to treat children and adolescents with recurrent solid tumors. The CIRM funding will support further CHLA research into harnessing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

Cancer patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy may develop and adverse event known as immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS).

Xyphos Biosciences Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc., and Kelonia Therapeutics Inc. have entered into a research collaboration and license agreement to develop novel immuno-oncology therapeutics.

Elicera Therapeutics AB has received approval from the Swedish Medical Products Agency to start a phase I/II study of chimeric antibody receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy ELC-301 in patients with refractory or relapsed B-cell lymphoma.