Slightly ahead of the assigned June 23 PDUFA date, Nuvation Bio Inc. scored the U.S. FDA’s go-ahead for Ibtrozi (taletrectinib) to treat adults with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Three years after litigation started over technology used in an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, Biontech SE is acquiring its adversary, Curevac NV, through an all-stock transaction valued at about $1.25 billion. The amount is lower than the $3 billion in backpay Curevac could win through the lawsuit if a low mid-single-digit royalty were awarded, Evercore ISI analysts Jon Miller and Umer Raffat said. But the legal uncertainty has weighed heavily on the company, which shed 30% of its workforce last July and sold off rights to two of its infectious disease vaccines.
Researchers at Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and University of Ulsan have described UBA6-specific E2 conjugating enzyme 1 (USE1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes (ETMR) is a rare but aggressive brain cancer that affects very young children, typically under the age of 3 years. Survival rates for ETMR patients remain low, with a median survival of just over a year and only about 20% of patients living beyond 5 years.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most lethal cancers and needs innovative therapeutic solutions. Patients with PDAC have a 5-year survival rate of about 12%. To address this need, researchers have developed a Drosophila PDAC model harboring the genetic alterations in the KRAS, CDKN2A, TP53 and SMAD4 genes (4-hit model), which accounts for the worst and most aggressive PDAC with lower survival rates.
Octant Inc. has received a $4.9 million grant from the Gates Foundation to support a new therapeutics program focused on human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers. The initiative will develop affordable, broad-spectrum, small-molecule antiviral drugs designed to disrupt the interaction between hundreds of variants of the HPV E6 protein and the tumor suppressor protein p53.
Philochem AG’s ligand-targeting approach drew to the table Bristol Myers Squibb Co. in a potential $1.35 billion agreement granting BMS subsidiary Rayzebio Inc. exclusive worldwide rights to OncoACP3, a diagnostic and therapeutic candidate targeting prostate cancer.
3Sbio Inc. reported interim phase II study results of its PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, SSGJ-707 – a “fabulous” asset, according to Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla, that landed in Pfizer’s cancer arsenal via a potential $6 billion deal in May, of which $1.2 billion was paid up front.
A Raythera Inc. patent describes tyrosine-protein kinase JAK2 (V617F mutant) inhibitors or degraders reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.