Nuvalent Inc. has disclosed amino-substituted heterocycles acting as HER2 (erbB2) (mutant) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Targeted therapies and immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment in recent years. However, achieving durable responses and, ultimately, curing metastatic cancers driven by intracellular oncogenes remains a primary unmet medical need. Although fragments of intracellular oncoproteins can act as neoantigens presented by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), recognizing the typically minimal differences between oncoproteins and their normal counterparts makes this approach quite challenging.
Rhizen Pharmaceuticals SA and Incozen Therapeutics Pvt. Ltd. have disclosed salts of NAD+ ADP-ribosyltransferase poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, bone, cardiovascular, immunological, inflammatory and respiratory disorders, metabolic diseases and thrombosis.
Acerand Therapeutics (USA) Ltd. has discovered new son of sevenless homologue 1 (SOS1)/GTPase KRAS (G12D mutant) interaction inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Shanghai Qilu Pharmaceutical Research and Development Centre Ltd. has described proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising an E3 ubiquitin ligase-binding moiety covalently linked to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-binding moiety through linker reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Vergent Bioscience Inc. raised $21.5 million in a series B financing round to advance development of VGT-309, its targeted fluorescent imaging agent that illuminates tumors during open, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgeries. The company plans to use the funds to support a phase II trial at the University of Pennsylvania that focuses on lung cancer and a multicenter study that will examine the agent’s use in other indications.
Janssen Pharmaceutica NV has patented cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory disorders.
Following on a trifecta of regulatory wins, Optellum Ltd. raised $14 million in a series A funding round to commercialize its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled lung cancer diagnostic platform. Optellum’s Virtual Nodule Clinic, which helps physicians identify and monitor patients at-risk of lung cancer, has received U.S. FDA clearance, CE-MDR in the European Union and UKCA in the U.K.
Following epigenetic STING (stimulator of interferon genes) derepression, inhibition of the MPS1 kinase strongly reactivated cGAS-STING signaling in mutations in both the oncogene KRAS and the tumor suppressor kinase LKB/STK11. Exploiting these findings could lead to a new therapeutic strategy to target treatment-refractory tumors with mutations in KL tumors, which have mutations in both KRAS and LKB1/STK11.
