Orum Therapeutics Inc. struck a potential $945 million (₩1.3 trillion) deal with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. to discover novel degrader antibody conjugates (DAC) as targeted conditioning agents for use with gene editing, including Vertex’s gene therapy, Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel). Read More
Catalym GmbH has closed a $150 million series D to take its first in class immune potentiator visugromab into phase IIb development in a number of solid tumors. The round follows on the heels of data from a phase I/IIa trial which showed visugromab in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor antibody Opdivo (nivolumab, Bristol Myers Squibb) increased T-cell infiltration and generated durable antitumor responses in patients who had exhausted all other treatment options. Read More
Asceneuron SA has raised $100 million in an oversubscribed series C to take its lead small molecule, ASN-51, into phase II, with aim of demonstrating it prevents the formation of tau tangles and slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Read More
India’s first indigenous CAR T therapy is selling at around $50,000 per shot, nearly one-tenth of the price of top-selling CAR Ts in the U.S., and Immunoact founder and CEO Rahul Purwar told BioWorld he anticipates bringing the price down to as low as $20,000 per shot. Read More
In denying Medicaid patients with sickle cell disease or transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia access to Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s fertility preservation program, which is intended to counteract a side effect of the company’s gene-editing therapy, Casgevy, “the federal government now stands as the barrier between thousands of predominantly Black Americans and the necessary medical care that would protect their basic right to have biological children,” Vertex said in a lawsuit filed July 15. Read More
Mabwell Bioscience Co. gained clearance in China to start a phase II study of its novel Nectin4-targeting antibody drug conjugate (ADC), 9MW-2821, for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Read More
From no hope to viable treatments, BioWorld is there to cover the breakthroughs in medicine. Listen to Randy Osborne explain why the BioWorld team is ‘always on the lookout for what's next.’ Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Acurx, Benitec, Ferring, Lexeo, Pliant, Sensorion. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Astrazeneca, Amolyt, Checkpoint, GC, Lexicon, Nona. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Arrivo, Diakonos, Sumitomo. Read More
