Dose-limiting toxicities in a phase I/II study led Theseus Pharmaceuticals Inc. to quit work with lead compound THE-630, a pan-variant KIT Inhibitor for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), but the company plans to nominate another such candidate in the same indication during the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, the firm is prioritizing THE-349, a fourth-generation EGFR inhibitor for non-small-cell lung cancer, due for an IND application in the fourth quarter of this year.
Another collaboration between two biopharmaceutical companies in the Asia-Pacific region is adding fuel to an already heated fire for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) development worldwide. Suzhou, China-headquartered Genequantum Healthcare Co. Ltd. and South Korea’s Aimedbio Inc. recently announced extending an existing partnership to jointly develop five ADC investigative drugs.
China’s NMPA approved Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Astrazeneca plc’s Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan) as the first HER2-directed therapy for patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer.
From Roche Holding AG to Novartis AG, bad news abounds for anti-TIGIT immunotherapies. In an SEC filing on July 11, Chinese oncology R&D firm Beigene Ltd. and Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis announced an end to their $1 billion deal to develop the former’s TIGIT immunotherapy ociperlimab, with the checkpoint inhibitor going back to Beigene.
Taking aim at the elusive place where stubborn cancer cells multiply, Crossbow Therapeutics Inc. has launched with $80 million in funds through a series A round. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company plans to advance its novel therapies, which mimic T-cell receptors and target peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complexes on cancer cells. If all goes well, the first product will be in the clinic in 2025.
Seven deaths and five respiratory-related, treatment-emergent adverse events in a group of 40 aged and very unwell cancer patients rang alarm bells for ADC Therapeutics SA. The company has voluntarily paused enrollment in its phase II Lotis-9 study of Zynlonta (loncastuximab tesirine-lpyl) and rituximab (Lonca-R) for treating previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in those who are considered frail or unfit.
Lotte Biologics Co. Ltd. said it partnered with domestic bioventure Kanaph Therapeutics Inc. to develop an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology platform in hopes of rounding out a full, in-house ADC value-chain.
Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. raised HK$1.36 billion (US$174 million) in an IPO in Hong Kong to support its push into the increasingly competitive antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) market in China.
Finding ways to turn “cold” tumors “hot” remains an ambition pursued by drug developers with differing approaches – combination regimens hold particular appeal – and one up-and-comer in the effort that has gained the notice of Wall Street lately is Carisma Therapeutics Inc. Philadelphia-based Carisma is advancing CT-0508, an autologous HER2-targeted CAR-macrophage therapy in phase I, used alongside Keytruda (pembrolizumab), the PD-1 receptor binder from Merck & Co. Inc.
Extending its efforts in the booming antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) space, Beigene Co. Ltd. tapped Duality Biologics Co. Ltd. in a deal that could be worth a potential $1.3 billion, picking up an option for rights to a preclinical-stage ADC candidate targeting select solid tumors. It marks the seventh $1 billion-plus ADC-focused deal so far in 2023 and the second for Dualitybio, which inked a potential $1.7 billion deal in April.
RSS
