Researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute and collaborators had previously demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of an autologous whole tumor cell vaccine, named rWTC-MBTA, to prevent primary tumor growth and enhance mouse survival in a colon carcinoma model. The vaccine is composed of irradiated entire tumor cells (rWTC) pulsed with mannan-BAM (a pathogen-associated molecular pattern), TLR agonists and anti-CD40 antibody (MBTA).
Crossbow Therapeutics Inc. has launched with US$80 million in series A funding. The financing will allow Crossbow to advance the development of novel therapies that potently target peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complexes on cancer cells, using antibodies that mimic T-cell receptors (TCR).
Most drug developers working in the immunotherapy space focus on existing therapeutic targets when developing cancer drugs, optimizing ways of drugging them via engineering modalities such as CAR T-cell approaches, CRISPR editing or antibody-drug conjugates that deliver toxic payloads. The angle of one company – Cartography Biosciences – is the opposite to this. Its modus operandi is to pinpoint the immunological targets first, leveraging tools that already exist, before building therapies around them.
Maxcyte Inc. and Vittoria Biotherapeutics Inc. have signed a strategic platform license agreement for use of Maxcyte’s Flow Electroporation technology and Expert platform by Vittoria Biotherapeutics. Under the agreement, Vittoria will obtain nonexclusive clinical and commercial rights to use Maxcyte’s Flow Electroporation technology and Expert platform, and will pay Maxcyte platform licensing fees and program-related revenue.
Beigene Co. Ltd. and Duality Biologics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. have signed an agreement for Beigene to acquire an exclusive option for a global clinical and commercial license to a preclinical antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapy for select solid tumors.
Hillstream Biopharma Inc. reported a strategic reprioritization of its pipeline to focus on advancing novel oncology assets with the greatest potential and strong competitive profiles for solid tumors.
Ichnos Sciences Inc.’s first-in-class T-cell engaging trispecific antibody, ISB-2001, has been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
B7-H4 is an immune-suppressive protein overexpressed in several tumors, including breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers, that has been successfully targeted with antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) strategies in preclinical testing.
Hillstream Biopharma Inc. has signed an exclusive agreement with Applied Biomedical Science Institute (ABSI) to license technology for human antibodies targeting novel HER2 and HER3 conformational epitopes. The goal is to develop proprietary multiformat biologics, including bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
Lift Biosciences Ltd. has announced successful proof-of-concept production of its patented cancer-killing alpha neutrophils from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The proof of concept using In-Lift, the company’s second-generation platform which is derived from iPSCs, has shown that the alpha neutrophil type cells produced from iPSCs are able to be activated by chemokines released by tumors and that the cells actively destroy cancer cells.
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