LTZ Therapeutics Inc. has completed a series A financing of more than $20 million to advance the development of its myeloid engager pipeline to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. The closing of this round brings LTZ’s total funding to about $50 million.

Zymeworks Inc. has received IND clearance from the FDA for ZW-191, the company’s novel folate receptor-α (FRα)-targeted topoisomerase I (TOPO1) inhibitor antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). Clinical development is set to begin this year, with filings to initiate studies outside the U.S. to be made in the second half of this year.

An article by Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. scientists reports data from a study designed to assess the potential of combining pharmacological inhibition of hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1) with programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade as a novel strategy to enhance antitumor immunity against tumors with low antigenicity.

Ipsen SA and Foreseen Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. have entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement for FS-001, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets a novel tumor-associated antigen highly expressed across a range of solid tumors that was identified through the application of Foreseen’s proprietary proteomic platforms.

As PD-L1 and CD73 are both overexpressed in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and inhibiting CD73 has been shown to enhance anti-PD-L1 efficacy, dual-targeting of PD-L1 and CD73 has emerged as a feasible strategy in the oncolytic field.

Interius Biotherapeutics Inc. has been granted Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval and clinical trial notification clearance by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to begin a first-in-human trial of INT-2104, its lead in vivo CAR candidate for treatment of B-cell malignancies.

Myricx Bio (Myricx Pharma Ltd.), a spin out from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute, has closed a series A financing raising £90 million ($114 million) to support its work focused on the discovery and development of a novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

Researchers from Oricell Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. presented the discovery and preclinical characterization of ORIC-613, a dual-targeting CAR T-cell therapy being developed for the treatment of pancreatic and gastric cancer.

Activation of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway has recently proven effective as an antiproliferative strategy in glioma and melanoma.