In reporting positive data from a phase III study of sugemalimab in treating stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Cstone Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Eqrx Inc. have the first anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody demonstrating progression-free survival in patients with concurrent or sequential chemoradiotherapy. The data built on positive data released in August from another phase III study showing sugemalimab (CS-1001) prolonged PFS when used as a first-line treatment for stage IV squamous and nonsquamous NSCLC plus standard-of-care chemotherapy, hitting the study’s primary endpoint.
Engine Biosciences Pte. Ltd., a Singapore and Silicon Valley-based company using machine learning, combinatorial genetics and other technologies to hasten the discovery of gene interactions and biological networks underlying disease, has raised $43 million in series A financing. Polaris Partners led the round, which the company said would help it expand its portfolio of precision oncology therapeutics, prepare for its first clinical programs, and scale its technology platform.
With the advent of targeted therapies, cancer drugs have made strides in safety as well as efficacy. Still, because of the life threatening nature of the illness, safety is less of a focus in cancer drugs than other therapy types.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Yiviva Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on developing botanical drugs, has moved its lead candidate further into an international phase IIb trial for liver cancer and closer to an application through the FDA’s little-used botanicals pathway and a similar pathway in China.
HONG KONG – Mitoimmune Therapeutics Inc., a company that earlier this year completed a ?27.5 billion (US$24.41 million) series B financing led by Korea Development Bank, has received investigational new drug approval in the U.S. for MIT-001, its anti-inflammatory and anti-necrotic agent, moving the company a step closer to entering the clinic.
BEIJING, China and SANTANDER, Spain – Antengene Corp. and Calithera Biosciences Inc. entered a worldwide exclusive license agreement to develop and market the CD73 inhibitor CB-708 (ATG-037), as part of a push to use the small-molecule inhibitor to grab significant market share in Asia Pacific and global markets.
Shanghai-based Elpiscience Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. raised $105 million in a series C financing round to move candidates, starting with an anti-CD39 antibody, into clinical studies in the U.S. The funds will also support the company’s efforts in finding new mechanisms for cancer immunotherapy and potential partners, it said.
PERTH, Australia – Imagion Biosystems Ltd. has entered a collaborative research program with Patrys Ltd. to combine their technologies to target brain tumor imaging and diagnosis.
Beigene Ltd.’s PARP inhibitor, pamiparib, won conditional approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration for treating patients with germline BRCA mutation-associated recurrent advanced ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who have been treated with two or more lines of chemotherapy.
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