Galvanize Therapeutics Inc.’s Aliya pulsed electrical field system could enable surgeons to perform a biopsy and ablate lung tumors at the same time, a study in the Journal of Surgical Oncology indicates.

Phase Scientific International Ltd. raised $34 million in a series A round to accelerate research and development of its early disease detection technology for multiple cancers, women's health issues, and infectious diseases.

Pfizer Inc. is paying $1.25 billion up front and up to $4.8 billion in milestone payments to gain global, ex-China rights to SSGJ-707, a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody from 3Sbio Inc. that recently won China clearance for a phase III study in lung cancer as a potential first-line monotherapy. Announced after U.S. market hours May 19, the exclusive agreement for SSGJ-707 spells up to $6.15 billion combined for Shenyang, China-based 3Sbio, along with separate tiered double-digit royalty payments on sales of SSGJ-707, if approved.

Oncolytic viruses trigger immunogenic cell death in tumors, releasing signals that activate innate immune cells and promote tumor-specific T-cell responses. While some oncolytic viruses, including FDA-approved T-VEC, have shown safety and some clinical benefit, their limited effectiveness as standalone treatments underscores the need for combination therapies.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1 (MALT1) is an important factor from a complex downstream of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) in the B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathway.

CAR T-cell therapy for B-cell malignancies has still to be improved regarding durability, manufacturing complexity or toxicity, among others. Precigen Inc. has presented data regarding the preclinical development and efficacy of PRGN-3008, a PD-1-expression inhibitor cell therapy targeting CD19 that was built in a next-generation ultra CAR T platform.