Although details are scant, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. plans to buy out partner Kite Pharma Inc. (now Gilead Sciences Inc.) in the Fosun Pharma Kite Biotechnology Co. Ltd. joint venture for $27 million.
Scientists and doctors are getting much better at developing treatments for cancer. More than 18 million people with a history of cancer were alive in the U.S. at the beginning of 2022, up from just 3 million in 1971, according to the 14th edition of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Progress Report. And that number is expected to rise to 26 million by 2040.
Wall Street apparently wanted more from Prelude Therapeutics Inc.’s phase I data with SMARCA2 enzyme degrader PRT-3789 in cancer, which rolled out Sept. 13 during the recent European Society of Medical Oncology Congress in Barcelona, but hopes are still high for other prospects in the class pushed forward by various developers.
Innovent Biologics Inc. unveiled for the first time safety and efficacy data of IBI-354, an HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate that shows promising efficacy signals across a range of advanced solid tumors, during the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. An HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate developed using Innovent's topoisomerase inhibitor NT3 platform, IBI-354 combines a hydrophilic linker design with a hydrophobic payload to enhance the bystander effect, targeting adjacent antigen-low or negative tumor cells.
Scattered investor qualms about Nuvalent Inc.’s largely upbeat data during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Barcelona didn’t stop the firm from pricing an upsized $500 million public offering. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm is selling 5 million shares of class A common stock at $100 each. The offering is expected to close on Sept. 18, with underwriters holding a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 more shares.
One of the current challenges of immunotherapy is the hunt for good targets, and the Claudins – a family of roughly two dozen transmembrane proteins – would appear to have a lot going for them. “Some Claudins distribute in a tissue-specific manner, and malignant transformation causes their exposition,” Cinta Hierro told the audience at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. “Others are rarely expressed in healthy tissue.”
Putting in writing what it’s been saying at advisory committee meetings, the U.S. FDA is issuing a draft guidance on multiregional clinical trials for cancer drugs that underscores the need for applicability to the U.S. population and medical practices.
Immvira Group Co.’s oncolytic herpes simplex virus product, MVR-T3011, showed early efficacy via intravesical administration in patients with high-risk BCG-failure non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
Metastatic solid tumors may be curable now. Among the most profound results presented over the weekend at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress were the 10-year data from the Checkmate-067 and Keynote-006 trials, the phase III trials that tested Opdivo (nivolumab, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) as first-line agents in advanced or metastatic melanoma.
Three biopharmas debuted on Nasdaq Sept. 13, raising a combined $703 million for two Massachusetts-based companies focused on bifunctional antibodies for autoimmune diseases and cancer, and one Midwestern firm developing peptide therapies for endocrine and metabolic disorders.