Targeted radiopharmaceutical specialist Precirix NV has closed an €80 million (US$87.8 million) series B financing, enabling it to complete phase II development of CAM-H2, a potential treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and gastric cancer. The round follows initial data showing there were no dose limiting toxicities in the first cohort of patients in the phase I/II trial, and a positive review from the safety committee.
By combining an activator of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax with an inhibitor of the anti-apoptotic protein BCL-XL, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have been able to overcome resistance to apoptosis in both a wide range of cell lines and animal studies. The team reported its findings in the March 7, 2022, issue of Nature Communications.
Sanofi SA has suffered a setback in its bid to find a successor to Astrazeneca plc’s breast cancer drug Faslodex (fulvestrant) as amcenestrant failed to improve progression-free survival in advanced breast cancer in a mid-stage trial.
Tyra Biosciences Inc.’s recent deal with Xcures Inc. drew more attention to the already popular FGFR inhibitor space in oncology, as the pair made known a collaboration on a real-world biomarker study involving patients with FGFR-mutant bladder cancer who are given once-daily, oral Balversa (erdafitinib, Johnson & Johnson), a pan-FGFR blocker approved in April 2019.
Despite three mammoth deals signed for antibody-drug conjugates, the BioWorld Cancer Index (BCI), which ended last year down 36%, has fallen another 35% in the early months of 2022. It is a much sharper decline than that seen with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which are down 18% and 7.5%, respectively.
Ahead of data due any day from Turning Point Therapeutics Inc. with repotrectinib (repo) in ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), CEO Athena Countouriotis said her firm’s product already is differentiating itself from the likes of Xalkori (crizotinib, Pfizer Inc.) and Rozlytrek (entrectinib, Roche Holding AG).
Inxmed Co. Ltd. has raised $50 million in a series B round to support clinical trials of its lead candidate, IN-10018, for the treatment of multiple cancers in both the U.S. and China. Inxmed plans to use the funds to invest in trials of IN-10018, bring more stroma-targeting candidates into clinic trials, and improve the firm’s R&D capabilities.
Amgen Inc.’s pioneering lung cancer drug, Lumykras (sotorasib), is set to become available to NHS patients in England, after cost-effectiveness body NICE recommended financing from the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in final draft guidance.
Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address March 1 in which he gave a shoutout to his cancer moonshot initiative, the FDA released a trio of final guidances aimed at speeding the development of new cancer drugs. First launched in 2016 with the goal of doubling the rate of progress against cancer by making a decade worth of advances in five years, the moonshot was reignited last month with a new target following setbacks in cancer screenings and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Biden’s catch phrase is “ending cancer as we know it.”
LONDON – Epsilogen Ltd. has raised £30.8 million (US$41.5 million) in an oversubscribed series B, after its lead immunoglobulin E (IgE) program delivered positive results in a phase I in advanced solid tumors. The money is to fund a phase Ib trial of the product, Mov18 IgE – the first and only IgE antibody to have made it to the clinic – in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
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