HONG KONG – Taipei, Taiwan-based Pharmaengine Inc. has signed a collaboration and licensing deal with Cambridge, U.K.-based Sentinel Oncology Ltd. for the latter’s checkpoint kinase 1 inhibitor, SOL-578. Through the agreement, Sentinel will receive an exclusivity payment and Pharmaengine will fund the IND-enabling studies.
Questions of durability came up regarding Curis Inc.’s latest data with CA-4948, but that didn’t stop shares from soaring to $6.55 by day’s end, an increase of $5.11, or 355%. The ride came after Lexington, Mass.-based Curis rolled out positive preliminary data from the firm’s ongoing open-label, single-arm phase I dose-escalation study with the compound.
Rayzebio Inc. has swiftly followed up its recent $45 million series A round with a $105 million series B round that attracted several top-tier crossover investors.
New data on a variety of blood disorder therapies announced at the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting moved company shares on Dec. 7. Shares of Fate Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:FATE) hit a record high, rising 37.8% to $83.77 by day's end on news of clinical activity for one candidate in refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. licensed a pair of mesothelin-directed CAR T treatments, ATA-2271 and ATA-3271, to Bayer AG for $60 million up front with the potential for $610 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments. Atara is also eligible for tiered royalties that peak in the low double-digit percentage of net sales of the two drugs. South San Francisco-based Atara will provide translational and clinical manufacturing services for the two drugs that will be reimbursed by Bayer.
There will be plenty of data from clinical trials testing treatments for various lymphomas at the 62nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting this weekend. While CAR T cells have changed the landscape in the relapsed and refractory space for large B-cell lymphoma patients with two FDA approved medications, Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel, Novartis AG) and Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel, Gilead Sciences), "the uptake has been good but not dominant. There's still plenty of space. There's still plenty of need," Jason Westin, leader of the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma research team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Department of Lymphoma and Myeloma, said on a call with clients from Raymond James.
Preclinical startup Tavotek Biotherapeutics Ltd., with operations in Pennsylvania and Suzhou, China, boasts two technology platforms for discovering and developing molecular-targeted biologics for cancers and autoimmune diseases and is working to push its candidates, including a bispecific antibody, to the clinic next year.
The phase III study of Zepzelca (lurbinectedin) as combination therapy from Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and Pharmamar SA was a stumble, but the companies said they found plenty of encouraging data prompting them to continue development.
HONG KONG – Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. received approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for an additional indication for its tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Cabometyx (cabozantinib), clearing the firm to manufacture and market 20-mg and 60-mg tablets for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma that has progressed after prior systemic therapy.
LONDON – DNA damage repair (DDR) specialist Artios Pharma Ltd. has sealed a $860 million per target deal with Merck KGaA, around a series of small-molecule DNA nuclease inhibitors. The deal, for up to eight targets, will see Artios get $30 million in up-front and near-term milestones to take programs to the point at which Merck will decide on its option to take them in-house. For any products that make it to market, the $860 million in milestones along the way will be followed by double-digit royalties on sales. Subject to certain conditions, Cambridge-based Artios has rights to do joint development with Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck.
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