Valanx Biotech Gmbh has secured €3 million (US$4 million) in funding to advance its lead antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) program. The financing will enable preclinical development of VLX-ADC-001.

University of Pennsylvania researchers investigated death receptor 5 (DR5 or CD262) as a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) target for solid tumors.

CSN5, a key COP9 signalosome subunit, regulates protein stability in the cell cycle, apoptosis and DNA repair. Its overexpression in cancer promotes tumor growth, metastasis and therapy resistance, making it a potential therapeutic target.

C-Further, an international consortium supporting new therapeutics for pediatric cancers, has unveiled the first early-stage therapeutic programs in its pipeline. The company said it is advancing CF-012 and CF-033 through its collaborative model.

Similarities among three pediatric brain tumors that arise in different structures of the CNS – pineoblastoma, retinoblastoma and Group 3 medulloblastoma – have been linked to their shared origin during pineal gland development. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified the molecular signatures that drive these tumors from pinealocyte progenitor cells that conserve a common differentiation program, providing a shared therapeutic target for these three cancer types.