Over the past decade cancer immunotherapy has redefined standard care in many kinds of tumor, but low response rates remain a problem and there have been some shock trial failures where checkpoint inhibitors have failed to work as expected. To help, Neobe Therapeutics Ltd. is attempting to tackle an important constituent of the tumor microenvironment, the extracellular matrix.
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2022, including: Akeso, PDC*Line, Starpharma, Transcenta, Zymeworks.
Rubius Therapeutics Inc. is taking a giant step back so that it can attempt taking a few steps forward. The company said it’s restructuring to focus on taking its Rubius Erythrocyte Design (RED) cell therapeutics platform from what it considers a good thing and turn it into a better one. Rubius engineers red blood cells to become cancer fighters but a lack of progress and the lure of similar but new technology could lead to bigger and better results.
Rayzebio Inc. raised $160 million in a series D round and unveiled its lead targeted radiopharmaceutical drug candidate, RYZ-101, which has entered clinical development in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors expressing the somatostatin receptor type 2.
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2022, including: Adagene, Amgen, Ammax, Anaveon, Apexigen, Astellas, Astrazeneca, Ayala, Cardiff, Cel-Sci, Clovis, Daiichi, Deciphera, Eisai, Enlivex, Fore, Gritstone, GT, Ideaya, I-Mab, Imcheck, Immunogen, Merck & Co., Mereo, Neoimmunetech, Plus, Point, Regeneron, Shasqi, SQZ, Transgene, Wugen.
Nodus Oncology Ltd. is set to explore new avenues of DNA damage response by targeting the chromosome next-door neighbors of tumor suppressor genes that are damaged when tumor suppressor genes are inactivated via homozygous deletion. These collaterally deleted ‘passenger genes’ play diverse functions in cell homeostasis and so present a number of molecularly targeted vulnerabilities that can provide a route to destroying cells which carry a tumor suppressor gene.
The gamma secretase inhibitor nirogacestat (Springworks Therapeutics Inc.) reduced the risk of disease progression by roughly 70% in a randomized placebo-controlled phase III trial in patients with desmoid tumors.
Data presented Sept. 9 at the European Society of Medical Oncology 2022 Congress showed impressive effects for KRAS inhibitors. But they also illustrated their limitations. Earlier-stage trials and researcher presentations, meanwhile, suggested ways those limitations might be addressed. Results from the Codebreak 200 study, presented in the day’s Presidential Symposium, were typical of the best that targeted therapies have to offer: large effects for brief time periods.
Scientifically at least, the biggest story coming out of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2022 Congress is the success of cell therapy in solid tumors. “During this ESMO, there is a lot of novelty coming from T-cell therapies,” John Haanen told the audience at his joint keynote speech with Ton Schumacher – so much so that Haanen and Schumacher, both group leaders at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, left antibodies out of their keynote session in order to do justice to the advances in cell therapies.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. celebrated a long-awaited win with the U.S. FDA’s approval late Sept. 9 of novel G-CSF drug eflapegrastim, cleared for use in chemotherapy-induced neutropenia nearly four years after the company first filed for regulatory approval. Despite moves this year to reduce its cash burn, Spectrum has ready to go a commercial team expected to sell eflapegrastim as well as cancer drug poziotinib, which is under FDA review with a PDUFA date of Nov. 24, 2022.
RSS
