Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. is advancing MDNA-113, a first-in-class, IL-13-directed and conditionally activated PD-1 x IL-2 bifunctional superkine, through preclinical development toward a planned IND filing in the second half of this year.
Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has prepared and tested proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase binding moiety covalently linked to an estrogen receptor α(ER-α; ESR1) targeting moiety via a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Medulloblastoma is one of the most common pediatric brain malignancies. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying tumor cell fate determination is crucial to develop novel, effective and safe therapeutic strategies. With this aim, researchers from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and collaborating institutions recently conducted a study integrating whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from 189 human medulloblastoma samples.
CAR T cells have made headlines for their ability to fight hematological cancers, but they have proven largely ineffective against solid tumors. To fight such tumors, many groups have engineered T cells to carry T-cell receptors (TCRs) that target cancer antigens, but this approach requires using T cells taken from the patient and it is ineffective against parts of the tumor that have lost expression of the target antigen. As an alternative strategy, researchers at Zelluna ASA in Norway have engineered natural killer (NK) cells to express TCRs against solid tumor antigens.
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1; ARTD1) inhibitors have been described in a Protheragen Inc. patent as potentially useful for the treatment of cancer, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disorders, metabolic and autoimmune diseases.
Work at Dark Blue Therapeutics Ltd. has led to the development of new proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising a E3 ubiquitin ligase-binding moiety coupled to a protein ENL (MLLT1; YEATS1) and/or protein AF-9 (MLLT3; AF9)-targeting moiety through a linker. They are reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
CD276, also known as B7-H3, is an antigen highly expressed in several cancer types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, 79%-94% expression) and closely tied to aggressiveness and poor survival, but shows very low expression in normal tissues. Increasing evidence exists indicating B7-H3 has immune inhibitory functions, thus reducing interferon levels released by T cells and suppressing cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells, thereby aiding in tumor immune evasion.
Bispecific T-cell engagers (TCEs) aim to combat cancer by simultaneously binding T cells and tumor cells in order to induce the first to kill the second. This approach has failed to work effectively against many solid tumors because the exogenous engager proteins do not penetrate into tumors at sufficiently high concentrations.
Tahoe Therapeutics and Alloy Therapeutics Inc. are forming a jointly seeded new company focused on developing first-in-class antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for patients with hard-to-treat cancers. The joint venture will advance two ADC programs directed at novel tumor targets discovered by Tahoe using its proprietary Mosaic platform and large-scale, perturbative single-cell datasets.
The colchicine-binding domain (CBD) of tubulin, one of the earliest identified regulatory sites, remains underexplored in oncology despite its proven success in other therapeutic areas. Drugs targeting CBD are widely used for gout, parasitic infections or actinic keratosis. However, no CBD-directed agents have reached clinical use for cancer, highlighting a significant opportunity to exploit this domain for novel anticancer strategies.
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