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.
Redx Pharma plc has divulged Rho kinase 1 (ROCK1) and 2 (ROCK2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of autoimmune disease, cancer, fibrosis, inflammatory and neurological disorders.
Shanghai Yidi Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has synthesized proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase coupled to an androgen receptor targeting moiety via a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, prostate and breast cancer.
Shenzhen Zhongge Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has disclosed tyrosine-protein phosphatase non-receptor type 2 (PTPN2; TCPTP) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Oncolytic viruses are therapeutic agents used for in situ immunization in cancer immunotherapy. Unfortunately, its efficacy is particularly limited in solid tumors expressing stimulator of interferon genes (STING) and retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I).
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of breast cancer, lacking targeted therapies due to its molecular characteristics. Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs), particularly the pro-tumor N2-type, contribute to TNBC progression and resistance to treatment.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive disease that accounts for 80%-90% of all primary liver cancers. Previous findings have shown fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF-19) to be overexpressed in up to 30% of HCC cases, exerting its oncogenic effect through its receptors fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) and FGFR4.
Ariceum Therapeutics GmbH’s radiopharmaceutical 225Ac-SSO110 ([225Ac]satoreotide tetraxetran) has been awarded orphan drug designation by the FDA for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). [225Ac]Satoreotide is a first-in-class Actinium-labeled somatostatin SST2 receptor antagonist.
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.”
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