Daiichi Sankyo and Merck Announce Global Development and Commercialization Collaboration for Three Daiichi Sankyo DXd ADCs

“The promising results from clinical trials of patritumab deruxtecan, ifinatamab deruxtecan and raludotatug deruxtecan continue to demonstrate the broad applicability of Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd ADC technology across multiple targets, with each of these medicines having the potential to change clinical practice as has been already seen with ENHERTU®,” said Sunao Manabe, Representative Director, Executive Chairperson […]

Ascentage Pharma and AstraZeneca Enter into Clinical Collaboration on the Registrational Phase III Study of Bcl-2 Inhibitor Lisaftoclax in Combination with BTK Inhibitor Acalabrutinib in Patients with First-Line CLL/SLL

Dr. Yifan Zhai, Chief Medical Officer of Ascentage Pharma, said, “Combining Bcl-2 inhibitors and BTK inhibitors as a therapeutic approach has long attracted interest from both the research community and the industry. The Bcl-2 inhibitor lisaftoclax is a key drug candidate in Ascentage Pharma’s apoptosis-targeted pipeline. Results from the global Phase II study of lisaftoclax […]

First Patient Dosed in the Registrational Phase III Study of Olverembatinib in Treatment-Naïve Patients with Ph+ ALL

Prof. Weili Zhao, Vice President of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Affiliated Ruijin Hospital and Director of Shanghai Institute of Hematology, commented, “Ph+ ALL used to be the most high-risk and difficult-to-treat subtype of leukemia and the introduction of TKIs has resulted in improved prognosis to patients with this condition. However, clinicians face the […]

First Patient Cohort dosed in Ovarian Cancer CER-T Clinical Trial

Dr. Amit Kumar, Chairman and CEO of Anixa Biosciences, stated, “We are pleased with the positive safety data from the first cohort and look forward to advancing to the next higher dose cohort. We hope to continue observing good safety results as we continue to increase dosage, and eventually objective efficacy data.”

Ph 3 CheckMate-67T Trial of Subcutaneous Nivolumab (nivolumab and hyaluronidase) Meets Co-Primary Endpoints in Advanced or Metastatic ccRCC

“Intravenous Opdivo has helped transform the treatment of several solid tumor types over the past decade, but there remains a need for additional administration options to address treatment burden on patients and improve efficiencies in healthcare systems,” said Gina Fusaro, Ph.D., vice president, global program lead, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We are delighted that the results […]

New Data Demonstrating Superiority of TPST-1120 Arm Across Multiple Study Endpoints in Randomized First-Line HCC Study Released

“This comprehensive analysis of more mature clinical data shows an even greater benefit than the earlier interim analysis of the TPST-1120 triplet therapy over standard of care alone, both for the entire study population and in subpopulations of patients, the latter of which was predicted by TPST-1120’s proposed mechanism of action,” said Stephen Brady, president […]

Tagrisso plus chemo granted Priority Review in the US for patients with EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC

Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: “The FLAURA2 results reinforce Tagrisso as a backbone of standard of care in 1st-line EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer, providing patients with an additional nine months of median progression-free survival when combined with chemotherapy. This option is particularly important for patients with a poorer prognosis such […]

Positive CHMP opinion recommending approval of Jemperli (dostarlimab) + chemo as 1L treatment for dMMR/MSI-H primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer

Hesham Abdullah, Senior Vice President, Global Head Oncology, R&D, GSK, said: “We are pleased with this positive CHMP opinion and the potential for dostarlimab with chemotherapy to treat patients with this very challenging form of endometrial cancer. If approved, dostarlimab plus chemotherapy will be the first new treatment option in decades for these patients in […]

FDA Approves KEYTRUDA for Treatment of Patients With Resectable (T≥4 cm or N+) NSCLC in Combination With Chemo as Neoadjuvant Treatment, Then Continued as a Single Agent as Adjuvant Treatment After Surgery

“There remains a need for treatment options to improve outcomes for patients with earlier stages of non-small cell lung cancer,” said Dr. Heather Wakelee, principal investigator for KEYNOTE-671, thoracic medical oncologist and professor of medicine at Stanford University and past president of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). “This important milestone […]

European Commission Approves KEYTRUDA as Adjuvant Treatment for Adults With NSCLC at High Risk of Recurrence Following Complete Resection & Platinum-Based Chemo

“In the unfortunate scenario that non-small cell lung cancer recurs after surgery, most patients have to face limited palliative treatment strategies, underscoring the need to improve treatment outcomes for earlier stages of NSCLC,” said Dr. Solange Peters, chair of the medical oncology and thoracic malignancies department, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland. “This approval of […]

Olema Oncology Announces Expansion of Collaboration Agreement with Novartis

“The amendment announced today significantly increases the size of our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical study testing palazestrant in combination with ribociclib, in collaboration with Novartis,” said Sean P. Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Olema Oncology. “With the Phase 1b dose escalation portion now successfully completed, we are currently in Phase 2 […]

MediLink Therapeutics Announces Strategic Collaboration And Worldwide License Agreement With BioNTech To Develop Next-Gen Anti-Cancer ADCs

“Under the terms of the agreement, MediLink will grant BioNTech exclusive global rights for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of one of MediLink’s ADC assets excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Macau Special Administrative Region. In exchange, BioNTech will provide MediLink with an upfront payment totaling of $70 million and additional development, […]

AbbVie acquires Mitokinin in its Neuroscience pipeline

Earlier this month, AbbVie acquired Mitokinin, a discovery-stage biotechnology company developing a disease modifying treatment for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). PD is a neurodegenerative movement disorder where dopaminergic neurons of the brain that control movement are preferentially lost, causing slowness in movement, rigidity of limbs and trunk, tremors, and postural instability. It affects over 10 million […]

FDA Orphan Drug Designation for SLS009 for Treatment of AML

“We are honored to receive the ODD from the FDA. This designation underscores the potential of SLS009 to address a significant unmet medical need for patients with AML,” said Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD h.c., President and Chief Executive Officer of SELLAS. “SLS009 is a novel and highly selective CDK9 inhibitor that has already shown a […]

Positive EU CHMP Opinion for KEYTRUDA + Chemo as 1L Treatment for HER2-Negative Advanced GEJ Adenocarcinoma Expressing PD-L1 (CPS ≥1)

“This positive CHMP opinion builds on our efforts to treat advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer in Europe, including in patients with HER2-negative disease, which accounts for the vast majority of gastric cancer cases,” said Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of late-stage oncology, global clinical development, Merck Research Laboratories. “We look forward […]

FDA Approves Pfizer’s BRAFTOVI + MEKTOVI for BRAF V600E-Mutant mNSCLC

“Today’s approval builds on our long-standing commitment to deliver innovative, personalized medicines to patients with lung cancer. By pursuing precision medicines that target a patient’s specific type of cancer, we are leveraging our deep understanding of tumor biology to help address the underlying cause of disease,” said Chris Boshoff, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Oncology Research and […]

Bristol Myers Squibb to acquire Mirati Therapeutics

“We are excited to add these assets to our portfolio and to accelerate their development as we seek to deliver more treatments for cancer patients,” said Giovanni Caforio, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair, Bristol Myers Squibb. “With a strong strategic fit, great science and clear value creation opportunities for our shareholders, the Mirati transaction […]

US FDA places lacutamab IND on partial clinical hold for new patient enrollment following one unexpected severe adverse reaction

“Patient safety is of paramount importance to us, and we are currently undertaking efforts to address the FDA requests, which include incorporation of risk mitigation and management strategies for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in ongoing lacutamab studies.” said Mondher Mahjoubi, Chief Executive Officer of Innate Pharma. “Additionally, with all patients recruited into the Phase 2 TELLOMAK study, […]

EXKIVITY® (mobocertinib) to be voluntary withdrawn from the U.S. for adult patients with EGFR Exon20 insertion+ mNSCLC whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy

“Our steadfast commitment to pursue solutions for people with high unmet needs led us to develop and launch EXKIVITY as the first oral therapy designed for patients with EGFR Exon20 insertion+ metastatic NSCLC,” said Awny Farajallah, MD, head of Global Medical Affairs Oncology at Takeda. “We have been fortunate to witness the impact EXKIVITY has […]

Positive Interim Phase 2 ASPEN-06 Clinical Trial Results of Evorpacept for the Treatment of Advanced HER2-Positive Gastric Cancer Reported

“The ASPEN-06 clinical trial validates the potential of evorpacept both in solid tumors and in combination with anti-cancer antibodies and these data highlight the drug’s potential as a first-in-class foundational immunotherapy,” said Sophia Randolph, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, ALX Oncology. “We are highly encouraged by these initial randomized efficacy and safety results in gastric […]

KEYTRUDA® Met Primary Endpoint of DFS in Certain Patients With Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma (MIUC) After Surgery

“Up to half of patients with bladder cancer who undergo surgery will experience recurrence within a year, underscoring the need for new treatment options in the adjuvant setting,” said Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of late-stage oncology, global clinical development, Merck Research Laboratories. “These positive results highlight the potential of KEYTRUDA to […]

FDA Grants Priority Review to KEYTRUDA + Concurrent ChemoRT as Treatment for Patients With Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer

“The standard of care for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer has not changed in more than two decades, and the majority of patients will experience recurrence or progression of their disease,” said Dr. Gursel Aktan, vice president, global clinical development, Merck Research Laboratories. “If approved, KEYTRUDA will be the first immunotherapy available for patients […]

NeuroSense receives patent approval for ALS candidate drug, PrimeC from multiple countries

After the U.S., Canada, and Australia, it was turn for Europe, Israel and Japan to approve NeuroSense Therapeutic’s patent application on “Compositions comprising an anti-inflammatory drug and a dicer activator for use in treatment of neuronal diseases.” The patents relate to the formulation of two known FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approved drugs viz. Ciprofloxacin and […]

Guardant Health in liquid biopsy cancer diagnosis

Cancer treatment experienced a seismic shift in the 2010s with the rise of personalized precision medicine. Cofounded in Silicon Valley by entrepreneur Helmy Eltoukhy with fellow Stanford and Illumina alum AmirAli Talasaz in 2012, Guardant Health has been at the forefront of developing liquid biopsy technology for cancer diagnosis. Guardant aimed to provide non-invasive approaches […]