Esophageal cancer, particularly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), is one of the most prevalent digestive malignancies, with a 5-year survival rate of only 20%. Although some cancer immunotherapies based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown promise for ESCC, only a minority of patients actually benefit from ICI therapy.
Astrazeneca AB has synthesized antibody-drug conjugates comprising an antibody or antigen-binding fragment covalently linked to cytotoxic moieties through enzymatically cleavable linkers reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. has released promising preclinical results for its systemic Rtnova platform showing its ability to successfully deliver transient gene therapy payloads to targeted tumors. Moreover, the company’s tumor-specific virotherapy has demonstrated efficacy in killing over 60 different tumor cell lines.
The TNF receptor superfamily member herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM or TNFRSF14), first identified as a receptor for viral infection, acts as a molecular switch, either activating or inhibiting the immune response depending on the interacting ligand. Previous work found that HVEM binding to B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) initiates an inhibitory signal to effector T cells and that targeting the HVEM-BTLA complex with an antibody reduced tumor growth in a humanized mouse model.
Researchers from Vicero Inc. have developed a Vincobody platform, which allows for design of novel proprietary VHH antibody fragments that possess the efficacy of dual checkpoint blockade while mitigating the toxicity limitations of current monoclonal antibody therapies.
Esophageal cancer, particularly esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), is one of the most prevalent digestive malignancies, with a 5-year survival rate of only 20%. Although some cancer immunotherapies based on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown promise for ESCC, only a minority of patients actually benefit from ICI therapy.
Peptide-based vaccines deliver tumor-specific antigens to dendritic cells (DCs), triggering tumor-targeted T-cell responses. A peptide-peptide conjugate technology previously developed by researchers from Uppsala University and collaborators enhances this process by using multiple tetanus toxin-derived B-cell epitopes (MTTEs) to facilitate in vivo antigen delivery and DC activation.
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. has obtained clearance from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to conduct clinical trials with JMT-108 for advanced malignant tumors.
Bioheng Therapeutics US LLC has obtained IND approval from the FDA for CTD-402, a CD7-targeted universal CAR T-cell therapy, for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma.
Tharimmune Inc. has applied its Epiclick multispecific antibody engineering platform to expand its pipeline. With Epiclick, the company can combine distinct antibody binding domains, including those derived from previously inaccessible and undruggable epitopes, in either small-format or full-length configurations to target hard-to-reach epitopes.