Moderna Inc. has more than COVID-19 vaccines in the hopper, and the company aims to add still more oomph by way of an oncology deal with Immatics NV that could be worth more than $1.7 billion for the latter, which banks $120 million up front and stands to collect research funding as well.
Artiva Biotherapeutics Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application for Allonk (AB-101), to be used in combination with rituximab for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in patients with active lupus nephritis.
Lift Biosciences Ltd. has reported a substantially marked increase in cancer killing with the attachment of HER2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to its immunomodulatory alpha neutrophil (IMAN) cell therapy, using the company’s second-generation N-Lift (neutrophil only leukocyte infusion therapy) platform. Positive data support the potential of the In-Lift platform to produce a variety of genetically engineered CAR-IMANs to enhance killing and more targeted immunomodulation for different tumor targets.
Hangzhou Qihan Biotech Co. Ltd. has received clinical trial clearance from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for QN-019a for CD19-positive relapsed/refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Maxcyte Inc. and Vittoria Biotherapeutics Inc. have signed a strategic platform license agreement for use of Maxcyte’s Flow Electroporation technology and Expert platform by Vittoria Biotherapeutics. Under the agreement, Vittoria will obtain nonexclusive clinical and commercial rights to use Maxcyte’s Flow Electroporation technology and Expert platform, and will pay Maxcyte platform licensing fees and program-related revenue.
The loss of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and their projections in the putamen cause motor disabilities, which are one of the main hallmarks in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Tolerogenixx GmbH raised €7 million (US$7.6 million) in an extension to its series A round, which will enable it to continue phase IIb development of a cell therapy that induces donor-specific immune tolerance in kidney transplant recipients. At the same time, the company disclosed five-year follow-up data from a phase Ib trial of the therapy, which demonstrated that recipients continue to have stable graft function and to avoid acute rejection and severe opportunistic infections while on a reduced regimen of immunosuppressive drugs.
Lion TCR Pte. Ltd. raised $40 million in series B funding that will see the company advance its clinical trial program for its hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) cell therapy for HBV-related liver cancer.
Two years after a U.S. FDA advisory committee agreed that Celltrans Inc.’s pancreatic islet cellular therapy had a favorable risk-benefit profile, the agency has finally approved Lantidra (donislecel) for treating adults with type 1 diabetes.
Regulatory T-cell specialist Quell Therapeutics Ltd. has sealed a potential $2 billion agreement under which Astrazeneca plc is taking rights to two autologous Treg cell therapies for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and type 1 diabetes. Quell will receive $85 million up front, the majority of which is in cash, with a modest (undisclosed) equity investment. Reaching the $2 billion headline figure will involve a series of development and commercial milestones and royalties on sales.
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