A U.S. biotechnology company founded by Deerfield Management Company L.P. licensed exclusive rights to Metis Techbio Co. Ltd.’s preclinical trispecific T-cell engager (TCE) for autoimmune disorders in a potential $1.62 billion deal.

A year and a half from its formation, Oblenio Bio has generated positive nonhuman primate data for LBL-051 in chronic autoimmune diseases and closed a $62 million series B to move the trispecific T-cell engager into the clinic.

Combotope Therapeutics ApS has established a strategic research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG that will leverage Combotope’s proprietary SMART-Phage platform to generate highly tumor-selective antibodies for next-generation cancer therapies.

RQ Biotechnology Ltd. has completed an oversubscribed $115 million (£85.5 million) series A financing to advance its long-acting antibody therapeutics for the prevention of influenza in high-risk and immunocompromised populations.

Ethyreal Bio Inc. has developed ETHY-001, a half-life-extended monoclonal antibody targeting thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) designed to prevent the production of pathogenic autoantibodies (TSAbs) to treat Graves’ hyperthyroidism and thyroid eye disease (TED).

MPM Bioimpact-spawned K2 Therapeutics Inc. inked a license deal plus option agreement, worth $980.5 million apiece, to gain ex-China rights to two of Antengene Corp. Ltd.’s preclinical anticancer bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) assets. The deal, announced June 21, will grant Singapore-based K2 exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Antengene’s ATG-106 outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Vedana Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with $46 million in series A financing. The company is developing next-generation, preventive therapies for migraine by leveraging pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) biology, and highly selective combinatorial targeting of clinically validated pathways.

Researchers at Obleno Bio Inc. have reported preclinical efficacy data for LBL-051-S3, a trispecific T-cell engager antibody targeting CD3, CD19 and BCMA, in nonhuman primate models.

Researchers from Pilatus Biosciences SA recently presented preclinical efficacy data for PLT-012, a humanized IgG4 antibody targeting CD36, in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) models.

Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc.’s HLX-3902, a trispecific antibody targeting STEAP1xCD3xCD28, has received approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in Australia and has been filed with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The T-cell engager is intended for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and other advanced solid tumors.