Ampersand Biomedicines Inc. has secured $65 million in series B funding from investors including Ampersand’s founder, Flagship Pioneering, to support advancement of two lead programs and a new discovery partnership in obesity.
Researchers at Concept to Medicine Biotech Co. Ltd., Lepu Biopharma Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Miracogen Inc. have described antibody-drug conjugates consisting of trophoblast glycoprotein (TPBG, 5T4)-targeting antibodies covalently linked to cytotoxic drugs through linkers reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Sotio Biotech AS is exercising an option under a license and option agreement to obtain a license to Synaffix BV’s technology to develop two bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) programs for solid tumors.
Sutro Biopharma Inc. has announced plans to prioritize its three wholly owned preclinical programs in its next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) pipeline, while deprioritizing additional investment into development of luveltamab tazevibulin across all indications.
Inatherys SAS recently presented preclinical data for INA-03, an anti-transferrin receptor (TfR1/CD71) antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), being developed for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). INA-03 was constructed by conjugating an antimitotic payload (MMAE) to a humanized IgG4 anti-human CD71 antibody using a novel valine-citrulline linker.
Finnish cancer immunotherapy specialist Valo Therapeutics Oy has raised €19 million (US$20.7 million) in a round that attracted Italian and Australian investors, and funding the company to the completion of the ongoing phase Ib trial of its lead program in the treatment of solid tumors.
Esophageal cancer, particularly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), is one of the most prevalent digestive malignancies, with a 5-year survival rate of only 20%. Although some cancer immunotherapies based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown promise for ESCC, only a minority of patients actually benefit from ICI therapy.
Astrazeneca AB has synthesized antibody-drug conjugates comprising an antibody or antigen-binding fragment covalently linked to cytotoxic moieties through enzymatically cleavable linkers reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. has released promising preclinical results for its systemic Rtnova platform showing its ability to successfully deliver transient gene therapy payloads to targeted tumors. Moreover, the company’s tumor-specific virotherapy has demonstrated efficacy in killing over 60 different tumor cell lines.
The TNF receptor superfamily member herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM or TNFRSF14), first identified as a receptor for viral infection, acts as a molecular switch, either activating or inhibiting the immune response depending on the interacting ligand. Previous work found that HVEM binding to B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) initiates an inhibitory signal to effector T cells and that targeting the HVEM-BTLA complex with an antibody reduced tumor growth in a humanized mouse model.
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