There are 40 years of history behind the development of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors, Rebecca Dent told her audience at ESMO Breast Cancer 2022. And there have been success stories. There are five FDA-approved PI3K inhibitors in several cancer types, and in April, the FDA approved Vijoice (alpelisib; Novartis AG) for PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum, a rare disorder resulting from germline mutations of PIK3CA.
The short-term future is a little clearer for Israeli precision oncology startup Oncohost Ltd. now that it has closed a $35 million series C fundraising round. The new infusion more than doubled the previous amount raised, bringing total investment to more than $50 million. The company plans to use the funds to expand its PROPHETIC trial of the company’s machine learning-based host response profiling platform, Prophet, to additional locations worldwide and new indications.
Askgene Pharma Inc., which less than two weeks ago reported positive initial data from an ongoing phase I/II trial testing its claudin 18.2-targeting candidate, ASKB-589, added $20 million in a series A round, intended to advance the company’s clinical pipeline and support further development of its Smartkine cytokine drug platform.
As the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting nears, presenters are talking up their prospects, including Biomea Fusion Inc. with early data from experiments testing BMF-219, an oral, irreversible covalent menin inhibitor – one in an intriguing class that has sparked efforts by various developers.
With a 2020 launch behind it, Moma Therapeutics Inc. has completed a $150 series B financing to continue refining its pipeline of therapies targeting tough-to-drug enzymes in treating solid tumors.
Juniper Biologics Pte. Ltd. has added another candidate to its pipeline in the space of less than a month. In the latest deal, the Singapore-based company inked an exclusive licensing agreement with Switzerland’s Helsinn Healthcare SA, gaining rights to develop and commercialize oncology drug infigratinib in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and certain markets in the Middle East and Africa.
Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. has acquired greater China rights to oncology candidate NKT-2152 from Nikang Therapeutics Inc. in a deal worth up to $218 million. Jiangsu, China-based Hansoh picked up exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the candidate in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. In turn, Nikang is eligible to receive $15 million up-front cash payment, as well as up to $203 million in potential development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments, and tiered royalties.
Beigene Ltd. reported that its global phase III trial of PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab in combination with chemotherapy met the primary endpoint of overall survival in first-line advanced esophageal cancer.
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