A trio of European cancer vaccine specialists have filed progress reports, with advances in technology and targeting, fresh infusions of cash, and off-the-shelf products moving into the clinic. Six years on from its formation, Ervimmune closed a series A at €17 million (US$19.9 million) to drive forward clinical development of lead program Ervac-01. Accession Therapeutics Ltd. raised a further £30.5 million (US$40.4 million) from its existing investors, following dosing of four patients with Trocept-01. And Infinitopes Ltd. added $15.4 million to its seed round, as it finalizes preparations for a phase I/IIa trial of the lead product ITOP-1. Read More
After selling off amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapeutics last month, Tanabe Pharma America Inc. emerged a forerunner in another rare disease space with positive top-line phase III data of dersimelagon (MT-7117) for erythropoietic protoporphyria/X-linked protoporphyria. Read More
The good news is that the U.S. Congress is on track to pass a slate of fiscal 2026 spending bills before the current continuing resolution expires Jan. 30. So, barring any last-minute disputes or legislative hostage-taking, there should be no repeat of last year’s 43-day shutdown that impacted NIH grants and activities. Read More
CD122 – shared beta subunit of the IL-15 and IL-2 receptors, two targets for the figurative price of one – has drawn the eyes of many drug developers, among them Anaptysbio Inc., which will roll out phase Ib results in celiac disease during the fourth quarter of this year with ANB-033. The San Diego-based firm intends to weigh the candidate in a second inflammatory disease. A phase Ib study with ANB-033 in eosinophilic esophagitis will begin this quarter. Read More
A new method, based on gene editing with oligonucleotides and functional analyses, identifies which variants of DNA repair genes associated with Lynch syndrome are truly harmful and which are not. Scientists at The Netherlands Cancer Institute have developed this technique and classified these gene variants in both coding and noncoding regions, distinguishing those that are pathogenic from those that are benign. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, and other news in brief: Aicuris, Alteogen, Aspect, Boundless Bio, GSK, Guardant Health, Hyloris, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Orion, Pfizer, Shionogi, Smartbax, Tesaro, Viiv. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, and other regulatory decisions and designations: Akeso, Atossa, Bioxcel, Bpgbio, Capricor, Celcuity, Cogent, Daiichi, Dyne, Eli Lilly, Immunitybio, Iregene, Lantern, Mesoblast, Nanoscope, Novartis, Organon, Rein, Valneva. Read More
