Olivia Vizier

An Australian-based biotech company has announced positive, dose-dependent reductions against SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19, following treatment with two anti-infective drug candidates, RECCE® 327 and RECCE® 529 (R327 and R529). Recce Pharmaceuticals, which developed the candidates, says it will be advancing the compounds to in vivo studies in ferrets in a US study.

The allogeneic therapy, CYAD-211 from Celyad Oncology, is unique insofar that it uses short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) editing to knock down the CD37 component of the T-cell receptor (TCR). It is a first-in-class CAR-T candidate, meaning it would represent the first CAR-T therapy that uses this gene-editing approach.

NeoTX Therapeutics and Active Biotech, meanwhile, are working on immunotherapy with naptumomab, which fuses the Fab fragment of an antibody targeting 5T4 with an engineered bacterial superantigen that activates T cell responses.

The work is being done in conjunction with biotech company Heat Biologics. This candidate vaccine will need to go through clinical studies before scientists will know if it works in people.

Filippo Petti is CEO of Celyad Oncology (Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium), a clinical-stage biotech focused on the discovery and development of CAR-T therapies. Here, he tells Pharm Exec how the pandemic affected his role as a US-based CEO to a Belgian company and what permanent changes it has brought to the way the company operates.

NeuBase leader Dietrich A. Stephan, Ph.D. says we’ve reached a digitally-enabled inflection point in disease therapy development.

Likewise, Compugen is positioning its anti-TIGIT therapy, COM902, alongside the company’s inhibitor of poliovirus-receptor-related immunoglobulin (PVRIG), a related co-inhibitory receptor that competes with DNAM-1 and TIGIT for binding to the CD122 ligand.

When the biotech got started in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was singularly focused on tarloxotinib, a small molecule inhibitor named for its design to target low oxygen levels in the tumor and thereby sparing healthy tissues. More than two years later, Rain has tripled its pipeline within days, first licensing a research program

Celyad Oncology is at the forefront of cutting-edge immunotherapy and is hopeful of providing a new way forward for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. After receiving FDA approval on July 14th to begin Phase I trials, they plan to be in the clinic with their first patient the end of 2020.

X4 Pharmaceuticals said that comprehensive data from its mid-stage trial of mavorixafor for the treatment of adult patients with the rare genetic syndrome WHIM was published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Cell therapy developer Celyad Oncology is using short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) to create T cells that can be used as an “off-the-shelf” allogeneic therapy for cancer patients. They are also using the technology to help T cells survive longer in patients.

Heat Biologics CEO Jeff Wolf talks with Contagion about the firm’s effort to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus focused on combining antibody and T cell immunity using the GP-96 protein.

A distinct targeting approach is being followed at Vaccinex. “We are not targeting the mutation that triggers the disease, but the pathological process that is triggered by the accumulation of misfolded proteins,” says Maurice Zauderer, PhD, the company’s CEO.

CalciMedica has been developing a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs, calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel blockers, with the lead indications for treating acute pancreatitis and viral pneumonia now in Phase 2 trials for its compound, Auxora, an injectable emulsion. Recently, the company discovered the same drug may have a large impact on systemic inflammatory response

This work ultimately led to the creation of Fountain Therapeutics, where he is a co-founder – and continues to drive a significant amount of the research conducted at his Stanford lab.

When Bionano Genomics acquired Lineagen, Inc. in August, the genomic analysis company gained the final piece it needed to provide comprehensive structural variation detection for researchers and drug developers and a reimbursement pathway for clinicians who want to use its technology to replace cytogenetic tests to diagnose cancers and rare diseases.

Valneva makes vaccines from inactivated viruses that are killed with chemicals. Jonas Salk and other early vaccine makers found this recipe to work well. Chinese vaccine makers already have three such coronavirus vaccines in Phase 3 trials, but Dr. Lingelbach still sees an opportunity for Valneva making its own.

Patrick Soon-Shiong knows when he realized that the Covid-19 pandemic was going to pose a serious threat. It was February 24, and the part-owner of the L.A. Lakers was at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.

“Empowering” natural killer (NK) cells to destroy tumors could cut the cost of cell therapies, according to a company developing the technology. Acepodia has started Phase I trials of its lead drug candidate, a cancer treatment based on a new cell therapy platform. Antibody Cell Conjugation (ACC) uses “molecular Velcro” to attach tumor-fighting antibodies to the surface

Immunotherapy continues to be a burgeoning field, with immune-based therapies being among the leading treatments being developed in areas such as oncology and autoimmunity.

Radek Spisek, Ph.D. SOTIO discusses SO-C101 displays strong anti-tumor effect in TC-1 and TRAMP-C2 tumor mice and in combination with PD-1 blockade prevents tumor development in a NK and CD8+ T cells dependent manner Summary: SO-C101 is a IL-15 superagonist being developed for the treatment of advanced solid tumors – currently in an ongoing Phase

When it comes to fighting COVID-19, doctors say your body’s immune response can often time be worse than the symptoms of the disease itself. “Unfortunately, this COVID-19 generates a hyper-immune response. The immune response is actually maladaptive to and that actually causes its own dama

Immunotherapy continues to be a burgeoning field, with immune-based therapies being among the leading treatments being developed in oncology and autoimmunity.

Roche and Immunomedics have expanded their checkpoint inhibitor-ADC partnership from TNBC to include other solid tumours: UC and NSCLC. What promise does combining ADC Trodelvy and checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq have in overcoming unmet needs in these cancer types?

Many human diseases are driven by the dysfunction or dysregulation of proteins. However, up to 80% of proteins do not possess binding sites suitable for direct binding of small molecule drugs, making them “undruggable”. To overcome this problem, Anima Biotech has developed their Translation Control Therapeutics platform to identify drugs with the ability to interfere

A novel immune-based, gene therapy approach is entering phase 2 trials (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04006119) for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) after promising preliminary safety and efficacy data. Despite encouraging results in several tumor types such as melanoma, colorectal, and lung, immunotherapies have yet to show any significant benefit in patients with brain tumors. The new technique by Ziopharm