Vyriad Inc. has announced the closing of a $25 million final tranche to its series B financing, bringing the total series B round to $85 million. This additional funding will support first-in-human testing of VV-169, Vyriad’s in vivo CAR T candidate, in patients with relapsed or treatment-refractory multiple myeloma.

Despite therapeutic advances, multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable, with most patients relapsing and developing resistance, especially those refractory to proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs and anti-CD38 antibodies. Limited options and poor prognosis highlight the need for new agents with distinct mechanisms and better safety.

Flagship Pioneering Inc. has announced a research program under its strategic collaboration with Pfizer Inc. for metastatic prostate cancer.

BioWorld’s 2022 end-of-year highlights included a toast to the future – of universal vaccines. Even before SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were developed in record time and saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines were a rare bright spot in the fight against infectious diseases. Bacteria are becoming multidrug resistant far faster than new classes of antibiotics are being developed, viral spillover events and vector ranges are increasing, and climate change is helping bacteria and fungi alike breach human thermal protections against infections.

Ipsen SA has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Simcere Zaiming Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for global rights outside of Greater China for SIM-0613, an LRRC15-targeting antibody-drug conjugate developed by Simcere Zaiming for solid tumors. The program is expected to enter phase I development in the second half of next year.

Cartography Biosciences Inc. has received IND approval from the FDA for CBI-1214, a T-cell engager being developed for the treatment of colorectal cancer.