With the advent of targeted therapies, cancer drugs have made strides in safety as well as efficacy. Still, because of the life threatening nature of the illness, safety is less of a focus in cancer drugs than other therapy types.
CEO David Epstein said Black Diamond Therapeutics Inc. was “delighted” with phase I data testing BDTX-189 in advanced solid tumors harboring EGFR or HER2 alterations, but Wall Street seemed less so. Shares (NASDAQ:BDTX) closed at $13.93, down $8.30, or 37%.
DUBLIN – Numab Therapeutics AG has moved closer to the front rank of European antibody developers by raising CHF100 million (US$111 million) in a series C financing round to accelerate the development of NM21-1480, a trispecific antibody that acts both as a PD-L1 inhibitor and 4-1BB (CD137) agonist. It also contains a human serum albumin recognition group, to extend its circulatory half-life.
BEIJING, China and SANTANDER, Spain – Antengene Corp. and Calithera Biosciences Inc. entered a worldwide exclusive license agreement to develop and market the CD73 inhibitor CB-708 (ATG-037), as part of a push to use the small-molecule inhibitor to grab significant market share in Asia Pacific and global markets.
Building on a deal first struck in 2019, artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Exscientia Ltd. has agreed to take responsibility for a multitarget drug discovery collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. that could be worth more than $1.2 billion in all. The expanded collaboration, first established with BMS-acquired Celgene Corp., includes $50 million in up-front funding, up to $125 million in near to mid-term potential milestones, plus additional clinical, regulatory and commercial payments. It remains focused on small-molecule drug candidates in areas including oncology and immunology.
Interius Biotherapeutics Inc., which just closed on an oversubscribed $76 million series A financing, is fixed on simplifying CAR T-cell creation by making the process less cumbersome, less expensive and time consuming, and all done in vivo.
The anti-TIGIT bispecific antibody AGEN-1777’s preclinical status didn’t stand in the way of Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s whopper deal with Agenus Inc., which is collecting $200 million up front and as much as $1.36 billion in potential milestone payments in trade for development and commercial rights to the Fc-enhanced compound.
As part of its ongoing investigation into what it considers excessive price increases for some prescription drugs, the U.S. House Oversight Committee plans to put Abbvie Inc. CEO and Chairman Richard Gonzalez on the hot seat May 18 for a grilling on the company’s pricing of Humira and Imbruvica.
As investors await interim data this quarter from Arcus Biosciences Inc.’s ARC-7 phase II effort with domvanalimab (AB-154) in non-small-cell lung cancer, the anti-TIGIT space continues to bubble, with Wall Street busy trying to sort out the odds of various players.
Soteria Biotherapeutics Inc., a company developing switchable bispecific T-cell engagers to treat patients with solid tumors, has raised $42 million in series A financing to fund early development of a pipeline of candidates with potential in validated cancer targets, it said. Roche Venture Fund and 5AM Ventures led the round, with further investments from M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments.
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