Ankyra Therapeutics Inc. has received approval of its IND application by the FDA and its clinical trial application (CTA) by Health Canada for its lead agent, ANK-101, a novel tumor-directed anchored immune medicine.
Kalivir Immunotherapeutics Inc. has announced FDA clearance of an IND application for a phase I study of ASP-1012 (formerly VET2-L2) in participants with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors. The trial is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.
Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is involved in cancer cell invasion while it acts as a negative regulator of adhesion. EpCAM is overexpressed in several cancer types, such as colorectal, ovarian or gastric cancer, and its expression is associated with a worse prognosis.
Data regarding an innovative bispecific antibody – CPL-976 (CPBT-0976) – were recently reported by Celon Pharma SA. Bispecific antibodies targeting more than one antigen on cancer cells improve the specificity and effectiveness of the therapy, and could be utilized for targeting the defense mechanisms of cancer cells, such PD-L1 or EGFR, VEGFR and AXL.
Caribou Biosciences Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application for CB-012, an allogeneic anti-C-type lectin-like molecule-1 (anti-CLL-1) chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. CLL-1 is highly expressed on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and leukemic stem cells, but it is not expressed on hematopoietic stem cells.
Y-Mabs Therapeutics Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application for CD38-SADA, the company’s second program within its SAYA Y-PRIT (Self-Assembly DisAssembly Pre-targeted Radioimmunotherapy) theranostic platform.
Cimeio Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a preclinical research collaboration with a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to research and evaluate a novel universal immunotherapy with potential to treat multiple blood and bone marrow cancers.
In recent years, the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors to the oncolytic pipeline has been a significant breakthrough in cancer treatment, but unfortunately some tumors respond only minimally. Besides CTLA-4, and since the approval of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, only the anti-LAG3 strategy (relatlimab, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.) has been good enough to reach the market. In a session dealing with emerging checkpoints beyond PD-1, CTLA-4 and LAG3, Drew Rasco from the START Center for Cancer Care depicted a new player on the ground of immunotherapeutic options.
Duality Biologics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has synthesized antibody-drug conjugates comprising anti-GPC3 antibodies covalently linked to exatecan derivatives through a linker. They are reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.