Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Deliver Therapeutics Inc. have synthesized protein kinase inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer and psoriasis.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. has gained IND clearance from the FDA for a phase I/II trial of REC-1245 in a biomarker-enriched patient population, including patients with solid tumors and lymphoma. The trial is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
Alentis Therapeutics AG has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for ALE.P02, an anti-Claudin-1 (CLDN1) antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) with a tubulin inhibitor payload.
The gene encoding methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) is expressed in normal tissues but 10 to 15% of tumors present deletions of MTAP expression that lead to accumulation of its metabolite 5-methylthioadenosine (MTA). Previous research has shown that selective inhibition of protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) in the presence of MTA may be considered a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of MTAP-deleted cancer.
Immunotherapy company Cartherics Pty Ltd. raised AU$15 million (US$10.3 million) in an oversubscribed series B round that will support the first clinical trial for lead chimeric antigen receptor natural killer therapy CTH-401 for ovarian cancer, and to expand its pipeline to include other diseases.
Owkin Inc. partnered with Astrazeneca plc to develop an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool to pre-screen for germline BRCA mutations (gBRCAm) in breast cancer directly from digitized pathology slides. The companies hope that the gBRCA pre-screening solution will not only transform patients’ lives but bring value to health care systems.
The University of Texas System has synthesized mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1; ERK2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Gritstone Bio Inc. has had a tough year and new interim phase II data of Granite haven’t helped. The company called the progression-free survival results “encouraging” in the ongoing phase II/III trial of its personalized neoantigen-targeting immunotherapy for treating front-line microsatellite stable colorectal cancer.
Shattuck Labs Inc. opted, as one analyst put the matter, to do “the right thing early” by ending the clinical program with phase I-stage SL-172154 and shift resources to SL-325, a death receptor 3 antagonist, initially for inflammatory bowel disease, where TL1A/DR3-blocking antibodies have shown compelling monotherapy efficacy.