Eli Lilly and Co.’s end last year to its PI3Kα inhibitor program didn’t mean the pharma player was giving up on the target – far from it, as signaled by the potential $2.5 billion deal signed recently to take over Scorpion Therapeutics Inc. and gain rights to phase I/II-stage STX-478 for breast cancer and other solid tumors. The list of developers at work in the space includes Roche AG plus smaller entities such as Celcuity Inc., Menarini Group, Onkure Therapeutics Inc., Relay Therapeutics Inc. and Totus Medicines Inc.
Europe has more oncology startups than the U.S., but many more U.S. companies scale up to the later growth stage. Given the proven links between patent ownership and access to finance, that critical gap is in part because U.S. companies hold nearly twice as many patents as European counterparts, according to an analysis by the European Patent Office.
Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco have identified an RNA-binding protein that increased the translation of Myc mRNA. The authors wrote that their work, which was published online in Nature Cell Biology on Feb. 4, 2025, “transforms the understanding of the translational code in cancer and illuminates therapeutic openings to target the expression of oncogenes.”
Newco Akribion Therapeutics GmbH has raised €8 million (US$8.3 million) in a seed round to develop a new and potent class of RNA-targeted CRISPR nucleases, which, rather than cleaving specific nucleic acids, can destroy every type of nucleic acid in a cell.
New and positive data for Maia Biotechnology Inc.’s lead candidate for a particularly deadly and advanced lung cancer propelled the stock modestly higher on Feb. 4. The pivotal phase II THIO-101 study of Thio, a telomere-targeting agent sequenced with Regeneron Inc.’s immune checkpoint inhibitor, Libtayo (cemiplimab), as a third-line treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed median overall survival of 16.9 months for the 22 NSCLC patients who received at least one dose of Thio in parts A and B.
EMA approval of the Alzheimer’s disease therapy Leqembi (lecanemab) has stalled once again, after the European Commission did not as usual nod through the agency’s recommendation, but told it to examine safety data that have recently become available.
In a devastating blow to the company and large B-cell lymphoma patients relapsed or refractory to CD19 CAR T-cell therapy, Cargo Therapeutics Inc. terminated the phase II study of its lead CD22 cell therapy, firicabtagene autoleucel (firi-cel), and is cutting its workforce by 50% and evaluating strategic options, following disappointing data on durability of response and serious safety events, some of which were fatal.
It’s one step backward in order to take two steps forward at Zentalis Pharmaceuticals Inc. In a restructuring to help fund the second part of its potentially registration-enabling Denali study, Zentalis has laid off 40% of its workforce. The clinical trial of azenosertib, Zentalis’ lead candidate and a WEE1 kinase inhibitor, is for treating advanced solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. The therapy is designed to make cancer cells self-destruct.
A former regional sales director at Lantheus Holdings Inc. is the latest biopharma official to settle insider trading charges with the U.S. SEC. As part of the settlement, John Heropoulos agreed to disgorge nearly $61,000, an equal amount in civil penalties and more than $10,000 in prejudgment interest, according to the SEC.
With positive results from a phase III study, ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE said it has reached a landmark. The clinical trial of ITM-11, a synthetic, targeted radiotherapeutic agent for treating inoperable, progressive grade 1 or grade 2 gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, met its primary endpoint of prolonging progression-free survival when compared to the mTOR inhibitor everolimus, a targeted molecular therapy and a standard of care.
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