Patients living with aggressive nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) now have a new treatment option with the U.S. FDA approval of Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd./Coherus Biosciences Inc.’s PD-1 inhibitor antibody Loqtorzi (toripalimab), which will likely become the new standard of care for NPC.
Peel Therapeutics believes evolutionary biology holds the key to developing new therapeutics for cancer and inflammation, a relatively unique approach in the world of biotech, but one that is bearing fruit: Its lead molecule is derived from camptothecin, a compound originating from the Chinese Happy Tree that is thought to have evolved as a plant defense mechanism, and it has progressed to a phase I dose escalation study in patients with advanced solid tumors.
Oncolys Biopharma Inc.’s lead compound Telomelysin (suratadenoturev, OBP-301) met the primary endpoint of exceeding the predefined threshold of local complete response, confirming clinical benefit in a phase II study in locally advanced esophageal cancer combined with radiation.
With Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s positive top-line data in hand from the pivotal phase III study called Motion, Wall Street speculation turned to the comparative safety and regulatory odds for vimseltinib (which analysts often refer to as “vim”) in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) not amenable to surgery.
Shanghai-based Henlius Biotech Inc. and India’s Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. agreed upon a potential €185 million (US$195.38 million) licensing deal for Intas to develop and sell Henlius’ China NMPA-approved lung cancer drug, serplulimab, across Europe and India. Serplulimab (HLX-02) is a recombinant humanized PD-1 monoclonal antibody (MAb) injection that first gained approval as Hansizhuang in March 2022.
This summer’s phase III news from Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. with iruplinalkib – an oral inhibitor of ALK and ROS1 tyrosine kinase – reinforced an ongoing interest in the pair of oncology targets, where a handful of developers remain busy. Most notably of late is Nuvalent Inc., which rolled out stock-boosting data Oct. 4.
Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd.‘s chlorotoxin (CLTX) CAR T therapy, CHM-1101, which is derived from scorpion toxin, saw a disease control rate of 55%, exceeding the historical disease control rates of 20% to 37% in heavily pre-treated patients with glioblastoma.
A new deal between privately held Hummingbird Bioscience Pte. Ltd. and Endeavor Biomedicines Inc. is just one of three antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) agreements reached in the past week, marking a fourth-quarter surge for the therapy.
Elevar Therapeutics Inc. and Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s licensing deal for camrelizumab (SHR-1210; Airuika in China) will add the PD-1 antibody to Elevar’s liver cancer armory for pairing with rivoceranib, its tyrosine kinase inhibitor on the brink of U.S. FDA review.
GSK plc is the latest pharma giant to bite the “magic bullet” of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drugs, promising to pay the Chinese immunotherapy developer Hansoh Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. $85 million up front and over $1.4 billion in milestone payments in a licensing deal for HS-20089.
RSS
