Kazia Therapeutics Ltd. has announced promising preclinical and translational data supporting the development of NDL-2, a protein degrader targeting a newly identified mechanism of immunotherapy resistance and metastatic progression.
Opioids are widely used to relieve the pain associated with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), but tolerance and undesired effects often limit their use. EGFR is commonly amplified in oral cancer and its involvement in OSCC-associated pain and opioid tolerance was investigated through the sensitization of trigeminal ganglion cells, which are the main sensory neurons that innervate the face and mouth. For this purpose, they used the EGFR inhibitor AG-1478, which was tested in vitro as well as in in vivo in human OSCC and an orthotopic murine models.
Elevar Therapeutics Inc. appointed Kim Dong-gun (DG) as CEO Jan. 29, as the company focuses on post-NDA strategies for lirafugratinib in bile duct cancer, and the twice-rejected rivoceranib-camrelizumab combination for liver cancer.
Astrazeneca plc is investing $15 billion in China through 2030 to expand R&D and manufacturing, marking one of the largest long-term investments by a multinational pharma company in the country. The U.K.-based company also struck a deal worth up to $3.5 billion with China’s CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group Ltd. to accelerate the development of next-generation therapies for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Chemotherapy is often seen solely as a tumor-targeting treatment, yet new evidence reveals a paradox: the tissue injury it causes can reprogram the body’s defenses, influencing the risk of metastasis. Researchers from the University of Lausanne and collaborators reported that chemotherapy reshapes the gut-immune axis by inducing microbiota-derived indole-3-propionic acid, which reprograms myelopoiesis to curb monocyte-driven immunosuppression and metastasis in colorectal cancer.
University of Florida researchers have synthesized proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase-binding moiety coupled to Bcl-2-like protein 1 (Bcl-xl; Bcl-X; BCL2L1)- and apoptosis regulator Bcl-2-targeting moiety.
To address the dual bottlenecks of immunosuppressive cell infiltration and impaired T-cell function in the tumor microenvironment (TME), researchers from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Sun Yat-sen University (China) aimed to develop an engineered bispecific peptide-nanozyme conjugate (BsPNEC) targeting PD-L1 and CXCR1/2.
In a recent paper, researchers from the University of Perugia and University of Naples Federico II have shown how the use of leukemia inhibitory factor receptor (LIFR) antagonists dismantles the pro-CAF programs in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to avoid its progression.