CHICAGO – Merck KGaA deepened its relationship with F-star Biotechnology Ltd., begun in 2010, by way of a new pact to develop and commercialize five bispecific immuno-oncology antibodies in an arrangement that could be worth about €1 billion (US$1.12 billion) if the pharma giant likes what it sees in a data package yet to come. Read More

CHICAGO – For men with prostate cancer (PC), the already good news regarding Zytiga (abiraterone, Johnson & Johnson) that came out of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting may get even better, and soon. Read More

CHICAGO – Detailed results from the phase III OLYMPIAD trial testing Astrazeneca plc's poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, Lynparza (olaparib), in BRCA-related metastatic breast cancer rang the plenary session bell and won accolades from ASCO president Daniel Hayes. "This is really a major step forward for us," he said, noting that immunotherapy, survivorship and precision medicine bubbled up as major themes in this year's abstracts. Read More

CHICAGO — Detailed genomic profiling is a sine qua non of precision medicine, and at tertiary cancer centers, the comprehensive profiling of tumors and matched germline DNA is becoming ever more routine. Read More

CHICAGO – New research has given the nod for cancer doctors to cut in half the term of chemotherapy for those with lymph node-positive (stage III) tumors, thus sharply reducing the toll taken on patients in the forms of nerve damage, diarrhea and fatigue. Read More

NEW ORLEANS – Viamet Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s lead fungal infection fighter, oral VT-1161 (oteseconazole), met the primary endpoint of a phase IIb trial in recurrent yeast infections, besting a placebo in all arms of the trial and laying the groundwork for the company to finalize its phase III protocol ahead of a meeting scheduled shortly with the FDA to discuss next steps, President and CEO Bob Schotzinger told BioWorld Today. Read More

NEW ORLEANS – Astrazeneca plc spinout Entasis Therapeutics Inc. is moving to take on some of the world's toughest infections with a new candidate that it said could be the first oral therapy for drug-resistant gram-negative infections in a decade. The beta-lactamase inhibitor, ETX-0282, is headed into animal testing soon and could enter phase I in early 2018, company executives told BioWorld Today, making it the company's third clinical candidate. Read More

LONDON – Scenic Biotech BV has moved seamlessly from startup four months ago to raising a £6.5 million (US$8.4 million) series A round from a syndicate of Anglo-Dutch investors. Read More

Despite some congressional misgivings about the 340B program, efforts to "repeal and replace" the controversial Affordable Care Act (ACA) have sidestepped the drug discount program, even though the ACA expanded the number of hospitals and other providers that qualify for the mandated manufacturer discounts. Read More

Neos Therapeutics Inc., of Grand Prairie, Texas, in a regulatory filing with the SEC disclosed that it entered a first amendment to an existing facility agreement with Deerfield Private Design Fund III LP and Deerfield Special Situations Fund LP, who provided $60 million in May last year. Read More

Akebia Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said the Opposition Division (OD) of the European Patent Office revoked a hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-related patent in Europe filed by Fibrogen Inc., of San Francisco. Read More

Newlink Genetics Corp., of Ames, Iowa, said the top-line data from a phase II trial of indoximod in combination with taxane chemotherapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer did not meet its pre-specified endpoints of a statistically significant difference between the two treatment groups as to progression-free survival, overall survival or objective response rate. Read More

Geovax Labs Inc., of Atlanta, reported data showing that a single dose of its Zika vaccine gave 100 percent protection in mice challenged with a lethal dose of Zika virus (ZIKV). Read More

Celldex Therapeutics Inc., of Hampton, N.J., presented phase II data of glembatumumab vedotin in patients with stage III/IV checkpoint inhibitor-refractory and BRAF/MEK inhibitor-refractory metastatic melanoma. Read More