Cancer
A combination of Tango Therapeutics’ vopimetostat and Revolution Medicines’ recently approved Rasonque led to a response rate of 82% in an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial—a drop from 92% that was reported in June in fewer patients.
Invikafusp alfa, a first-in-class dual T cell agonist, showed an objective response in various types of cancer, particularly among patients who did not respond to previous checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
Roche will pay Zymeworks $55 million upfront plus another $40 million once the partnership asset enters Phase 1b development and up to $718 million in additional milestones.
A combination of the personalized cancer vaccine intismeran autogene and Merck’s Keytruda just barely cleared analysts’ expectations for recurrence-free survival, leaving questions as to its applicability to tumor types beyond melanoma.
At the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting this weekend, Merck will showcase three late-stage trials of its Kelun-Biotech–partnered TROP2-directed antibody sac-TMT that VP of Chemistry Alan Northrup says gets the payload release “just right.”
China cracks down on some biotechnology ownership transfers—but will the new policy impact licensing deals?; Disc Medicine’s Phase 3 data sweep redeems rejected rare disease therapy, teeing up another FDA run; and the ESMO conference gets underway in Madrid this week, with much-anticipated data from Merck, and Summit Therapeutics.
Bracing for patent losses on its cornerstone product Darzalex, Genmab has bet its future on three cancer programs that will deliver pivotal readouts in quick succession.
At the European Society of Medical Oncology meeting in Madrid this weekend, analysts will be watching for detailed data on Merck and Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine, Summit and Akeso’s PD-1xVEGF bispecific therapy, and a host of antibody-drug conjugates.
As trispecifics, cell engagers and other complex formats multiply, drug developers are seeking discovery and engineering partners to help navigate an expanding universe of molecular possibilities.
A new biotech co-founded by Paul Stoffels has formed to take on the CAR T cell assets of Galapagos almost a year after the company—now known as Lakefront Biotherapeutics—abandoned them.
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