Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) live year-round in the icy or near-icy waters of the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Although they migrate with the seasonal cycles of ice formation and melting, they never reach the warmer waters visited by other large marine mammals. Their adaptation to low temperatures may have also enabled them to live longer and avoid cancer, a disease closely linked to aging.

Starlight Therapeutics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lantern Pharma Inc., announced that the FDA has cleared STAR-001 (LP-184) in combination with spironolactone for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at first progression.

New research indicates faults in repairing DNA breaks that are caused by oxidative stress in the noncoding parts of the genome are directly involved in the development of neurological diseases. The discovery of the significance of problems in repairing single-strand breaks in ‘junk’ DNA opens up a new area of biology that will lead on to new drug targets, according to Sherif El-Khamisy, professor of molecular medicine and deputy director of the Health Lifespan Institute at the University of Sheffield, U.K., who is co-author of a Sept. 29, 2022, paper in Nature describing the discovery of a gene that sits at the heart of the repair process.

Exploiting deficiencies in tumor cells’ inability to repair damage to their DNA has been one of the most successful endeavors of oncology research in recent memory. There are four approved PARP inhibitors to treat certain types of breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancers. Multiple other synthetic lethal combinations that might push repair-deficient tumors into cell death are being investigated. In the July 29, 2022, issue of Science, researchers at Yale University have described another approach to turning DNA repair defect against itself. Startup Modifi Biosciences Inc. is now on course to translate that work.

A new $1.33 billion oncology deal between Roche Holding AG and Repare Therapeutics Inc. is poised to give the Swiss multinational access to what it hopes will be a best-in-class program targeting DNA damage repair for the treatment of solid tumors. The global licensing agreement, for Repare's midstage camonsertib, gives Roche entrée to a developing race to lead the class alongside other big players, such as Merck KGaA, Bayer AG and Astrazeneca plc.

LONDON – DNA damage repair (DDR) specialist Artios Pharma Ltd. has sealed a $860 million per target deal with Merck KGaA, around a series of small-molecule DNA nuclease inhibitors. The deal, for up to eight targets, will see Artios get $30 million in up-front and near-term milestones to take programs to the point at which Merck will decide on its option to take them in-house. For any products that make it to market, the $860 million in milestones along the way will be followed by double-digit royalties on sales. Subject to certain conditions, Cambridge-based Artios has rights to do joint development with Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck.