Shares in Affimed AG gained as much as 28% during trading on Nov. 3 as the company unveiled continued good news from a phase I/II combination trial in CD30-positive lymphoma of its CD30-directed innate cell engager, AFM-13, and allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapy, as well as a clinical development partnership with Artiva Biotherapeutics Inc., which will provide it with access to a commercially scalable source of NK cells as the program matures.
The FDA has awarded orphan drug designation to Omega Therapeutics Inc.'s OTX-2002, a first-in-class epigenomic controller engineered to downregulate c-Myc (MYC), for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Standigm Inc. has disclosed leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), particularly LRRK2 G2019S mutant, inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, neurodegeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis, axial spondyloarthritis, radiographic (ankylosing spondylitis), Crohn's disease and dyskinesia.
Exelixis Inc. and Sairopa BV have entered into an exclusive clinical development and option agreement for ADU-1805, a potentially best-in-class monoclonal antibody that targets SIRPα.
CV6 Therapeutics (NI) Ltd. has secured US$9.2 million to progress its lead oncology asset CV6-168 into a first-in-human phase Ia trial and perform further scientific development work. CV6-168 is a novel, first-in-class DNA uracilation agent that selectively targets the enzyme dUTPase.
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.
CV6 Therapeutics Ltd. raised $9.2 million in grant and equity funding to move a first-in-class inhibitor of deoxyuridine 5’-triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) into a phase Ia trial in cancer. The compound, CV6-168, will from the outset be administered in combination with fluorouracil, a mainstay of chemotherapy for the past 60 years.