The field of peptides is exploding, Perpetual Medicines Corp. co-founder, chairman and CEO Kerry L. Blanchard recently told BioWorld, “with a projected growth rate far surpassing large and small molecules, and gene therapies. The area is underinvested, too, so this is a good opportunity to focus on peptide therapeutics.” Blanchard, who was most recently CEO of Shanghai-based Everest Medicines Ltd. and previous chief scientific officer (CSO) of China’s Innovent Biologics Co. Ltd., is now spearheading efforts to develop novel peptide therapeutics at his own biotech, Perpetual, founded in March 2023. Read More
Bispecific antibodies acting through CEACAM5/CD3 targeting have limited efficacy due to dose-limiting toxicities, insufficient T-cell activation and formation of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs). Researchers from Novimmune SA and Lampkap Bio Alpha AG have published data on a CEACM5/CD3 bispecific antibody, NILK-2301, which is formed by a heavy chain plus two different light chains (kappa and lambda body) as a potential immunotherapeutic with better efficacy and lower potential for ADA formation. Read More
Obi Pharma Inc. has received FDA clearance for its IND application to conduct a phase I/II study of OBI-992, a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) cancer therapy targeting TROP2. The trial will open shortly and aims to enroll patients with advanced solid tumors, including non-small-cell lung cancer, small-cell lung cancer and gastric cancer, although several other cancers are also potential targets. Read More
Medilink Therapeutics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has entered into a worldwide collaboration and license agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. for the development of YL-211, a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate candidate targeting proto-oncogene c-Met for solid tumors. Read More
Looking for novel anticancer agents, researchers from Ho Chi Minh City University of Science (Vietnam) and colleagues recently identified KTt-45, a compound derived from 6-prenylnaringenin, as a promising candidate. Read More
Guangzhou Fermion Technology Co. Ltd. has disclosed non-receptor tyrosine-protein kinase TYK2 (JH2 domain) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, asthma and more. Read More
Allorion Therapeutics Inc. has entered into an exclusive option and global license agreement with Astrazeneca plc to develop and commercialize a novel epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) L858R mutated allosteric inhibitor. Read More
About 30% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harbor mutations in the gene encoding receptor-type tyrosine-protein kinase FLT3 in the form of internal tandem duplication (ITD) or mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain. Read More
Researchers at Aston Science Co. Ltd. and Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology have synthesized phenylsulfonamide derivatives acting as eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-α kinase 1 (HRI) and/or translation initiation factor 2-α kinase 3 (PERK) and/or eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-α kinase 4 (GCN2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Mirati Therapeutics Inc. has identified compounds acting as GTPase KRAS and/or GTPase KRAS (mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and Ribocure AB have entered into a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG to develop novel treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH). Read More
Treeline Biosciences Inc. has divulged proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) compounds comprising a cereblon (CRBN) binding moiety covalently bonded to a B-cell lymphoma 6 protein (BCL6) targeting moiety through a linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer. Read More
Hangzhou Yirui Pharmaceutical Technology Co. Ltd. has described N-tetrazolyl aryl urea derivatives acting as bradykinin B1 receptor antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration, allergic conjunctivitis, pulmonary edema, neuralgia, infectious pneumonia, diabetic retinopathy, SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) and uveitis. Read More
In multiple sclerosis (MS), a demyelinating disorder, autoimmunity is generally considered the primary underlying pathophysiological cause. Therefore, developing treatments for MS has traditionally focused on modulating the immune system. However, an alternative hypothesis explains MS as a primarily or initially neurodegenerative disorder, in which neuronal death releases myelin, triggering a secondary autoimmune reaction. Read More
