Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address March 1 in which he gave a shoutout to his cancer moonshot initiative, the FDA released a trio of final guidances aimed at speeding the development of new cancer drugs. First launched in 2016 with the goal of doubling the rate of progress against cancer by making a decade worth of advances in five years, the moonshot was reignited last month with a new target following setbacks in cancer screenings and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Biden’s catch phrase is “ending cancer as we know it.”

LONDON – Epsilogen Ltd. has raised £30.8 million (US$41.5 million) in an oversubscribed series B, after its lead immunoglobulin E (IgE) program delivered positive results in a phase I in advanced solid tumors. The money is to fund a phase Ib trial of the product, Mov18 IgE – the first and only IgE antibody to have made it to the clinic – in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

Adagene Inc. has announced a research collaboration with Sanofi SA, to find “masked” monoclonal and bispecific antibodies that are safer than marketed drugs in oncology, in a deal worth up to $2.5 billion plus royalties. San Diego and Suzhou, China-based Adagene will generate masked versions of Sanofi antibodies, taking responsibility for early stage research activities using its Safebody technology. Sanofi will be responsible for later-stage research and all clinical, product development and marketing activities.

LONDON – Antibody-drug conjugate specialist Heidelberg Pharma AG has secured a route into Asia and a fresh injection of much-needed capital, in a licensing and equity deal with Huadong Medicine Co. Ltd. worth up to €930 million (US$1.1 billion).

Odeon Therapeutics Inc. has acquired rights to two cancer candidates from Obi Pharma Inc. in a deal worth up to $200 million. The transaction gives Shanghai-based Odeon rights to develop, register, and commercialize the antibody-drug conjugate OBI-999 and a therapeutic cancer vaccine OBI-833 in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.