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.
Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an immunoregulatory cytokine produced by a variety of immune cells, including type 1 regulatory T cells and macrophages, as well as nonimmune cells such as epithelial cells and fibroblasts.
Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. has expanded its pipeline with the addition of a novel IL-10 Indukine development candidate, WTX-921, for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and potentially other inflammatory diseases.
Cytokines are potent immunomodulators with the potential to amplify cell-based immunity against cancer development. Interleukin-21 (IL-21) generates antitumor immunity by inducing B-cell activation and driving the development of antitumor T-cell response. The use of IL-21 in cancer treatment so far is limited due to inadequate pharmacokinetic properties and toxicity issues.
Little more than a month after selling a narcolepsy drug from its portfolio, Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc has replaced it with another. The company entered an exclusive development and commercialization rights agreement Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd.’s candidate for treating narcolepsy along with idiopathic hypersomnia and other sleep disorders. Sumitomo retains the rights for Japan, China and certain other Asia-Pacific countries and regions while Jazz gets the rights to everywhere else.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. signed a licensing pact that could be worth more than $1.26 billion, assigning Jazz exclusive global development and commercialization rights to Werewolf's preclinical cancer prospect, WTX-613, a conditionally activated interferon (IFN)-alpha molecule known as an Indukine that emerged from Werewolf’s Predator protein engineering platform.
Business development among biopharmaceutical companies working on therapeutics for cancer indications has been brisk this year, with 32% of the 654 deals recorded to date by BioWorld involving cancer indications. However public companies in the area haven’t gained much investor enthusiasm, with the BioWorld Cancer index dropping over 18% year-to-date, with 6% of the loss in valuation taking place this month.
Vaccitech plc and Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. opened the last day of April with contrasting IPOs. Both priced mid-range, with Vaccitech raising $110.5 million, similar to Werewolf's $120 million haul. However, American depository shares of Vaccitech (NASDAQ:VACC), co-developer of Astrazeneca plc’s COVID-19 vaccine, fell 17.1% to $14.10 from a $17 open, while shares of cancer therapy developer Werewolf (NASDAQ:HOWL) boomed – until they didn't – climbing to $24 before closing about where they started, at $16.10.
