Astellas Pharma Inc. and Vir Biotechnology Inc. have signed a global co-development pact to advance VIR-5500, Vir’s PRO-XTEN dual-masked CD3 T-cell engager targeting prostate-specific membrane antigen for treating prostate cancer. Under the deal terms, San Francisco-based Vir will receive $335 million in up-front and near-term payments, including $240 million in cash, $75 million in equity investment and a $20 million near-term milestone. Vir is also eligible to receive up to $1.37 billion in development, regulatory and sales-based milestones plus royalties on ex-U.S. sales.
On the heels of more positive early data from the lead program derived from its tumor-activated T-cell engager (TRACTr) platform, Janux Therapeutics Inc. inked a collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. that comes with $50 million in up-front and near-term milestone payments, with the possibility of up to $800 million more tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Lunan New Time Biotechnical Co. Ltd. has identified new camptothecin derivatives and their antibody-drug conjugates reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. has announced that its priorities for the coming year include a focus on the company’s Inducer T-cell engager platform, where preclinical studies have demonstrated robust silencing and reduction of off-tumor toxicity.
Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. plans a signal-verifying phase II trial next year after making known the positive interim data from an ongoing phase I/II trial testing molecular glue degrader MRT-2359 in combination with androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor Xtandi (enzalutamide, Astellas Pharma Inc.). The investigation targeted heavily pretreated patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer bearing AR mutations.
Qingdao Putaike Biomedical Technology Co. Ltd. has divulged hydrophobic tag-based degraders comprising heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) ligands covalently linked to an androgen receptor (AR)-targeting moiety through a linker acting as AR degradation inducers reported to be useful for the treatment of acne, androgenic alopecia, hirsutism, metabolic disorders, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
The recommendation by a committee advising the U.K. government that screening for prostate cancer should not be made available to the vast majority of men could benefit companies such as Antegenes OÜ. The Estonia-based company develops polygenic risk score-based testing kits which help clarify an individual's genetic predisposition to specific cancers, providing a more targeted approach.
Cornell University and The General Hospital Corp. (Massachusetts General Hospital) have synthesized conjugates comprising a targeting moiety covalently linked to a radiolabeled metal chelator through a linker acting as positron emission tomography (PET) or single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) imaging agents reported to be useful for diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. has been granted Bellberry Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval in Australia to initiate a first-in-human phase I trial of its KLK3-targeting radiotherapeutic, RAD-402, for the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced prostate cancer.
