B7-H4 is an immune-suppressive protein overexpressed in several tumors, including breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers, that has been successfully targeted with antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) strategies in preclinical testing.
Hillstream Biopharma Inc. has signed an exclusive agreement with Applied Biomedical Science Institute (ABSI) to license technology for human antibodies targeting novel HER2 and HER3 conformational epitopes. The goal is to develop proprietary multiformat biologics, including bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
Lift Biosciences Ltd. has announced successful proof-of-concept production of its patented cancer-killing alpha neutrophils from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The proof of concept using In-Lift, the company’s second-generation platform which is derived from iPSCs, has shown that the alpha neutrophil type cells produced from iPSCs are able to be activated by chemokines released by tumors and that the cells actively destroy cancer cells.
Poseida Therapeutics Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application for P-CD19CD20-ALLO1, an allogeneic dual chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product candidate being developed for relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies in partnership with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. The company is actively focused on opening clinical sites for a phase I study in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.
Most drug developers working in the immunotherapy space focus on existing therapeutic targets when developing cancer drugs, optimizing ways of drugging them via engineering modalities such as CAR T-cell approaches, CRISPR editing or antibody-drug conjugates that deliver toxic payloads. The angle of one company – Cartography Biosciences – is the opposite to this. Its modus operandi is to pinpoint the immunological targets first, leveraging tools that already exist, before building therapies around them.
IPSirius SAS, an early stage French immuno-oncology firm, hopes to obtain a clinical trial authorization from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Products Agency next year, to enable it to move its novel therapeutic cancer vaccine into a first-in-human trial in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
Researchers from Parthenon Therapeutics Inc. and affiliated organizations presented preclinical data for a novel antiepithelial discoidin domain-containing receptor 1 (DDR1) antibody, PRTH-101, being developed for the treatment of cancer.
Domain Therapeutics SA has nominated a novel drug candidate, DT-7012, an anti-CCR8 monoclonal antibody depleting tumor-infiltrating regulatory T cells (Tregs).
Coimmune Inc. has obtained a license to target delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) with IL-18 armored chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology. The company exercised an option to obtain an exclusive license in the DLL3-targeted, allogeneic CAR-cytokine induced killer (CAR-CIK) cell therapy field to IL-18 armored CAR technology under an agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).
B cells that expressed a constellation of checkpoint inhibitors could be spurred into antitumor activity by deleting or blocking the checkpoint molecule T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 1 (TIM-1). The findings, which were published online in Nature on June 21, 2023, suggest ways to bring B cells into the antitumor fight. More broadly, Lloyd Bod told BioWorld, his laboratory aims to “break the dogma that B cells only produce antibodies.”
RSS
