Arcellx Inc. signed a deal that could be worth almost $4 billion with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s unit Kite Pharma Inc. to push forward Arcellx's lead late-stage candidate CART-ddBCMA for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The arrangement brings $225 million up front plus an equity investment of $100 million, along with as much as $3.9 billion in milestone payments. Arcellx CEO Rami Elghandour said the firm sorted through a number of suitors interested in the program. Data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting “catalyzed a number of discussions and a broad set of interests. We felt of the possibilities out there, [Kite/Gilead is] the partner of choice in this space.”

At the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2022, Compugen Inc. shared phase I data for COM-701 in dual and triple combination with Bristol Meyers Squibb Co.’s Opdivo (nivolumab) and with or without BMS-986207. Compugen’s candidate demonstrated preliminary durable antitumor activity and immune activation in patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer with a favorable safety and toxicity profile.

Vega Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth in advance of a podium presentation at this year’s American Society of Hematology meeting in New Orleans. The company, a spin-out from Star Therapeutics Inc., will disclose preclinical data on its lead drug candidate VGA-039, a first-in-class antibody in development for von Willebrand disease.

Neurons are specialized cells with a high metabolic demand to fulfill their function, survive or keep a healthy half-life. In this sense, the anabolism and catabolism of proteins and lipids could be associated to different neurodegenerative diseases. At the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, scientists reported the latest discoveries on neuron metabolic needs at a session on 'Powering Thoughts: The Regulation of Neuronal Energy Metabolism and Mitochondria.'