Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) is a member of the claudin family and is overexpressed in gastric, gastroesophageal junction and pancreatic cancer, among others. Researchers from Elevation Oncology Inc. recently presented preclinical efficacy data on the combination of EO-3021, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting CLDN18.2, with VEGFR-2 or PD-1 inhibitors in models of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Cancer and autoimmunity are “often thought of as being at opposite ends of the immune response,” Ana Anderson told her audience at a joint meeting of the NIH’s Office of Autoimmune Disease Research and Office of Research in Women’s Health earlier this month. Cancer, that line of reasoning goes, arises when the immune system is not good enough at recognizing harmful autoantigens. Autoimmunity arises when it is hypervigilant, mistaking harmless autoantigens for problematic ones and going on the attack.

Beigene Ltd. struck a global licensing deal with CSPC Zhongqi Pharmaceutical Technology (Shijiazhuang) Co. Ltd. worth up to $1.5 billion for its phase I selective methionine adenosyltransferase 2A (MAT2A) inhibitor, SYH-2039, which is being explored for solid tumors.

Wall Street wasn’t jumping up and down about Repare Therapeutics Inc.’s early data in gynecological cancers, though the findings look positive and the company has big plans for the combo therapy.

The first patenting to emerge from Filtro Medical Inc. describes the development of blood filtration devices designed to reduce systemic exposure to chemotherapy or other therapeutic agents that have been delivered into a target treatment location.

Edap TMS SA recently published data showing that its Focal One high intensity focused ultrasound technology is non-inferior to radical prostatectomy as a first-line treatment for localized prostate cancer. The company is also working towards gaining approval for the technology as a therapy for endometriosis.