Cancer

China’s I-Mab goes public in targeted range for $103.7M; after-market deep Zai?

January 17, 2020

Shanghai-based I-Mab Biopharma Co. Ltd. became the first IPO out of the gate this year, pricing its IPO of about 7.4 million American depositary shares (ADSs) – each 10 representing 23 ordinary shares of the company, par value $0.0001 per share – at $14 each, within the planned range of $12 at the low end and $15 at the high. But the stock’s performance might not have been all investors hoped, as shares (NASDAQ:IMAB) closed at $12.50 Jan. 17.

Bionetix secures $9.33M in series B funding for AML/MDS and glaucoma treatment

January 17, 2020

By Jihyun Kim

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HONG KONG – Bionetix Inc., of Suwon, South Korea, has secured ₩10.8 billion (US$9.33 million) in series B funding. The biotech, founded in February 2017, has attracted a total of KRW14.7 billion to date. The company will use the funds to advance NTX-301, a therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML) with epigenetic dysregulation, and NTX-101, a glaucoma treatment.

Biontech acquires Neon in $67M all-stock deal to strengthen T-cell portfolio

January 16, 2020

By Michael Fitzhugh

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SAN FRANCISCO – Following years of mutual admiration, Germany's Biontech SE is moving to acquire Cambridge, Mass.-based Neon Therapeutics Inc., a neoantigen-based T-cell therapy specialist, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $67 million.

Oncologie boosts pipeline with phase II-ready bispecific candidate in Mereo deal

January 16, 2020

By Elise Mak

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BEIJING – In a deal that adds another clinical-stage program to its pipeline, U.S.-China biotech Oncologie Inc. has picked up global rights to phase II-ready anti-DLL4/VEGF bispecific antibody navicixizumab from London-based Mereo Biopharma Group plc.

Miracogen expands ADC deal with Synaffix

January 15, 2020

By David Ho and Elise Mak

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HONG KONG – In less than a year, China-based Shanghai Miracogen Inc. has extended its partnership with Oss, the Netherlands based Synaffix BV for a second antibody-drug conjugate (ADCs) candidate. The new deal is similar to one signed last year in that it gives Miracogen nonexclusive rights to Synaffix’s Glycoconnect and Hydraspace ADC technologies for use in a second clinical candidate.

You’ve come a long way, baby

Lung cancer treatment options much improved, but resistance remains

January 15, 2020

By Anette Breindl

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It is equally fair to say that lung cancer treatment has come a long way, and that it has a long way to go. Speaking at a joint conference by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the American Association for Cancer Research on lung cancer translational research, William Pao remembered the stark realities of being an oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center just 20 years ago, when the main lung cancer “procedure” done by trainees was to get a DNR, or do-not-resuscitate order, from their patients.

J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Guardant embraces biopharma research, screening to maintain momentum

January 15, 2020

By Stacy Lawrence

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SAN FRANCISCO – Guardant Health Inc. has set the standard for liquid biopsy. That success has catapulted the Redwood City, Calif.-based company from an IPO in the fall of 2018 to a current valuation in excess of $7 billion. It has made its name – and much of its revenue – with its Guardant360 test, a molecular diagnostic test that assesses 74 cancer-related genes from the circulating tumor DNA to aid in designing the best treatment for advanced cancer patients with solid tumors.

Allo’, allo’, allo’: Adaptimmune, Astellas enter potential $897.5M allogeneic stem cell therapy pact

January 14, 2020

By Cormac Sheridan

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Adaptimmune plc continued its bright start to the year by entering an alliance worth up to $897.5 million with Astellas Pharma Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize stem cell-based allogeneic CAR T and T-cell receptor (TCR) cell therapies.

Slicing the pie chart

As KRAS inhibitors proceed, subtypes take on clinical importance

January 14, 2020

By Anette Breindl

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SAN DIEGO – Allele-specific KRAS inhibitors are “the most exciting change coming down the pike for treating KRAS-mutant tumors in the near future,” Ferdinandos Skoulidis said at the sixth joint conference by the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer meeting.

'Holy grail'

Adaptimmune SPEARs 4 partial responses in various tumor types

January 13, 2020

By Brian Orelli

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While companies have seen plenty of success treating blood cancers with T-cell therapies, solid tumors have largely remained the holy grail for T cells. But Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc has early data from its Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor (SPEAR) T-cell platform suggesting it may be on the right path for a platform with a wide breadth.