Innovent Biologics Inc. unveiled for the first time safety and efficacy data of IBI-354, an HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate that shows promising efficacy signals across a range of advanced solid tumors, during the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. An HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate developed using Innovent's topoisomerase inhibitor NT3 platform, IBI-354 combines a hydrophilic linker design with a hydrophobic payload to enhance the bystander effect, targeting adjacent antigen-low or negative tumor cells.

How do exercise and insulin collaborate in metabolism? The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation recognized the work of Juleen Zierath in this topic with the Diabetes Prize for Excellence at their recent annual meeting.

Scattered investor qualms about Nuvalent Inc.’s largely upbeat data during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Barcelona didn’t stop the firm from pricing an upsized $500 million public offering. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm is selling 5 million shares of class A common stock at $100 each. The offering is expected to close on Sept. 18, with underwriters holding a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 more shares.

One of the current challenges of immunotherapy is the hunt for good targets, and the Claudins – a family of roughly two dozen transmembrane proteins – would appear to have a lot going for them. “Some Claudins distribute in a tissue-specific manner, and malignant transformation causes their exposition,” Cinta Hierro told the audience at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. “Others are rarely expressed in healthy tissue.”

Metastatic solid tumors may be curable now. Among the most profound results presented over the weekend at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress were the 10-year data from the Checkmate-067 and Keynote-006 trials, the phase III trials that tested Opdivo (nivolumab, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) as first-line agents in advanced or metastatic melanoma.

Despite heightened political tensions, both Chinese and U.S. industry officials are working to strengthen ties in the health care and biotech sector, including launching strategic initiatives to foster Sino-U.S. biotech investment and M&A deals. As one of the initiatives, representatives from Hong Kong, China and the U.S. convened at the Bio Hong Kong 2024 conference to launch a global health care M&A and financial investment alliance, along with fostering company and talent growth in Hong Kong.

As Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co. go head-to-head in the U.S. and Chinese glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) market for diabetes and obesity, Novo Nordisk is in innovator gear once more with leading studies of GLP-1s in Alzheimer’s disease.

A novel gene therapy that leads to cellular rejuvenation could restore vision after non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) and glaucoma. The technique is based on a reprogramming process that reverses the epigenetic DNA alterations caused by aging. Preclinical studies in glaucoma mice and nonhuman primates (NHP) models for this stroke-like disorder that affects the eye, showed an improvement of vision and restoration of the damaged axons of the optic nerve.

The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong is “all ears” to foster local biotech IPOs, speakers said at the Bio Hong Kong 2024 conference Sept. 11, and more than 60 companies have jumped on board since the introduction of the Chapter 18A listing regime in 2018.