HER2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase and well-established oncogenic driver with mutations present in various types of tumors such as bladder urothelial carcinoma, uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, stomach adenocarcinoma and breast cancer.

In 2021, Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the mechanosensitive receptors Piezo1 and Piezo2. The receptors, which are ion channels that respond to mechanical pressure, are important in touch sensation, as well as regulating processes including bladder control and blood pressure. Now, investigators at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and Central South University’s Xiangya Hospital have discovered a decidedly ignoble role for Piezo2.

Zhuhai Beihai Biotech Co. Ltd. has raised nearly ¥200 million (US$27.5 million) in a series B round slated to support clinical trials for its lead candidates as well as preparations to file an NDA for its core asset, BH-009, an injectable formulation of docetaxel that excludes polysorbate 80 (Tween 80), a surfactant that has been associated with increased risk of adverse events, including hypersensitivity. The company claims that no similar product is currently available worldwide.

Alkermes plc’s decision to explore separating its commercial-stage neuroscience business from earlier-stage oncology efforts – forming a distinct, publicly traded company to investigate cancer therapies –  drove speculation about the launch of the firm’s Lybalvi (olanzapine and samidorphan), approved by the U.S. FDA in the middle of 2021 for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder.

Black Friday is still weeks away, but Exelixis Inc. has gone shopping and inked two deals that together are potentially worth more than $1 billion, bolstering its pipeline with cancer drugs from Cybrexa Inc. and Sairopa B.V. Both deals are eye-catching, not just because of their potential value but also because of the technologies involved. Cybrexa’s drug is a peptide-drug conjugate, a class where only one drug is FDA approved and established, and Sairopa is working on an antibody targeting SIRPα, a potential next-generation immunotherapy.

Eterna Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a sponsored research agreement with a collaborator at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson).