On October 8, 2025 Circio Holding ASA (OSE: CRNA), a biotechnology company developing powerful circular RNA technology for next generation nucleic acid medicine, reported the publication of a comprehensive data package demonstrating AAV-circVec in vivo tissue-specific proof-of-concept (Press release, Circio, OCT 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234656507]). The results are being delivered in a poster presentation at the European Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ESGCT) annual meeting 2025 in Seville, Spain.

In the ESGCT poster presentation, Circio is presenting new and expanded in vivo results demonstrating the advantage of circVec as a novel expression system to transform AAV gene therapy. In heart tissue, circVec 3.2 shows highly localized activity that outperforms conventional mRNA-based AAV expression by up to 40-fold. These results have been demonstrated and confirmed both by IVIS scanning and post-mortem ex vivo tissue analysis. To validate the technology in a therapeutically relevant setting, Circio has initiated technical development of circVec-AAV gene therapy constructs for Danon disease, a devastating cardiac genetic disease with no therapeutic options available today.

"Circio has worked systematically to optimize the circVec design for AAV gene delivery over the past two years. The latest circVec 3.2 generation incorporates a novel genetic feature that drives up AAV protein expression to levels that substantially exceed conventional mRNA-based AAVs. We are now advancing rapidly to validate these findings in relevant genetic disease models," said Dr. Thomas B. Hansen, CTO of Circio. "Importantly, the strong advantage in the heart is also observed in several other tissues and AAV variants. This consistency supports broad applicability of our circVec platform, thereby opening development and partnering opportunities in multiple therapeutic areas."

The presentation also includes data showing a strong increase in expression levels with the trend for continued signal accumulation following local delivery of previous generation circVec 2.0 AAV vector to the eye. Testing of the latest generation circVec 3.2 in eye and other tissues is currently being initiated, and a novel circVec generation 4.0, which incorporates further genetic enhancer elements, is due to enter initial in vivo screening experiments.

"ESGCT provides an excellent forum to showcase the circVec platform to a wide academic and industry audience as a potential solution to address the key issue preventing broad adoption and success of AAV gene therapy," said Dr. Erik D Wiklund, CEO of Circio. "The AAV field has recently experienced several major setbacks due to severe toxicity issues in ongoing clinical studies. Switching to circVec-based expression can enable substantial dose reduction, which we expect will lead to considerable improvements in safety for patients and lower treatment cost. The circVec platform could thereby completely transform the clinical and commercial viability of AAV therapy as we know it today and establish circVec as a novel gold-standard gene expression system."

Title of presentation and poster:
CircVec: Enhancing gene and cell therapy using circular RNA vector expression technology (poster no. 1041)

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Presenter: CTO Dr. Thomas B Hansen & CSO Dr. Victor Levitsky

On October 8, 2025 Lisata Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: LSTA) ("Lisata" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of advanced solid tumors and other serious diseases, and Catalent, Inc. ("Catalent"), a leader in enabling the development and supply of better treatments for patients worldwide, reported a global product license agreement that allows Catalent to incorporate Lisata’s certepetide into antibody-drug conjugates ("ADCs") developed using Catalent’s SMARTag technology platform (Press release, Catalent, OCT 8, 2025, https://www.catalent.com/media-advisories/lisata-therapeutics-and-catalent-announce-global-antibody-drug-conjugate-adc-license-agreement/ [SID1234656506]). Certepetide, a proprietary, internalizing RGD (arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid) or "iRGD" cyclic peptide, is being tested by Lisata as a cancer therapeutic to be used in combination with other anti-cancer agents to enhance tumor targeting and penetration and improve treatment outcomes.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Under the licensing agreement, Catalent gains worldwide, non-exclusive rights to develop and commercialize bioconjugate products containing certepetide and its analogs, including the ability to partner with third parties. As part of this collaboration, Catalent will have the right to evaluate certepetide and its analogs as SMARTag payloads in clinical studies across multiple ADCs targeting difficult-to-treat diseases, with the goal of creating a new class of targeted bioconjugate therapies. Lisata is eligible to receive over $10 million in tiered study initiation milestone payments plus revenue sharing on future sales and partnerships.

"This collaboration is based on positive preclinical results generated by Catalent’s use of an iRGD peptide as part of its SMARTag ADC platform," stated Kristen K. Buck, M.D., Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer of Lisata. "It underscores our mutual belief in certepetide’s broad potential and is another significant step forward in Lisata’s mission to bring transformative therapies to patients. Catalent’s technology and innovative approach are a perfect complement to certepetide’s biology." Preclinical work supporting incorporation of iRGD peptides into the SMARTag ADC platform will be highlighted at this November’s World ADC conference in San Diego.

"We are excited about the opportunity to explore iRGD biology as it relates to ADC delivery to the tumor microenvironment. Early data suggest that incorporating iRGD peptides into ADCs improves efficacy and pharmacokinetics, leading us to be optimistic about the potential of iRGD as a novel payload class," said Penelope Drake, Head of R&D, Bioconjugates at Catalent.

On October 8, 2025 Alligator Bioscience (Nasdaq Stockholm: ATORX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing tumor-directed immuno-oncology antibody drugs, reported the publication of a peer-reviewed article in Cell Reports Medicine, a Cell Press journal (Press release, Alligator Bioscience, OCT 8, 2025, View Source [SID1234656505]). The paper presents biomarkers associated with clinical efficacy endpoints from the Phase 1b/2 OPTIMIZE-1 trial evaluating Alligator’s CD40 agonist mitazalimab in combination with mFOLFIRINOX chemotherapy in patients with untreated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

The publication, titled "CD40 agonist mitazalimab with mFOLFIRINOX in untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer: biomarkers associated with outcomes from OPTIMIZE-1", provides mechanistic insights into determinants of clinical response and offers translational support for a planned randomized Phase 3 trial.

Key findings from the publication include:

Clinical efficacy: The OPTIMIZE-1 study met its primary endpoint, with a confirmed objective response rate of 42.1% in the Phase 2 cohort. Median duration of response was 12.6 months, progression-free survival 7.7 months, and overall survival 14.9 months. The survival rate at 24 months was 29.4%, triple that of chemotherapy alone.
Tumor gene signature linked to outcome: Baseline expression of a tumor-intrinsic fibrotic gene signature, directly linked to the mode of action of mitazalimab, was associated with improved overall survival.
Peripheral immune activation: Mitazalimab-induced increases in circulating activated immune cells correlated with better clinical outcomes.
Intratumoral immune activation: Patients with objective clinical responses displayed mitazalimab-induced immune activation supporting mitazalimab’s contribution to clinical outcomes
Translational impact: strongly supports mitazalimabs contribution to the improved clinical outcomes observed in OPTIMIZE-1 and supports future development of predictive biomarkers for mitazalimab.
"These data provide important guidance for understanding which patients may benefit most from mitazalimab-based immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer, and provides further evidence for mitazalimab’s contribution to the sustained clinical benefit observed in the OPTIMIZE-1 trial" said Søren Bregenholt, CEO of Alligator Bioscience. "The integration of biomarker-driven insights into our clinical development strategy strengthens the foundation for the next phase of mitazalimab’s evaluation in this high-need indication."

On October 8, 2025 Oncoinvent reported new data highlight continued potential of Radspherin to prevent disease progression Oncoinvent ASA, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing innovative treatments for solid cancers, announced positive final 24-month follow-up results from its Phase 1 clinical trial (RAD-18-001) evaluating Radspherin in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis (Press release, Oncoinvent, OCT 8, 2025, https://www.oncoinvent.com/press-release/oncoinvent-reports-positive-final-data-from-phase-1-trial-of-radspherin-to-treat-ovarian-cancer/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet [SID1234656487]). Radspherin, direct intraperitoneal targeting with the alpha-emitter radium-224, aims to eliminate post-surgery micro-metastases and thereby prevent or delay peritoneal recurrence.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

In this Phase 1 trial, 10 out of 21 patients received the highest and recommended intraperitoneal dose of 7 MBq Radspherin after dose escalation (1, 2, 4 and 7 MBq). The final 24-month data still reports that only 1 of these 10 patients had peritoneal recurrence, and peritoneal recurrence rate remains at 10%. Two additional patients were reported with lymph node metastases outside of the peritoneum, giving an overall recurrence rate of 30%. In similar populations, approximately 55-60% of patients receiving best standard of care would expect disease recurrence at this time point[1],[2],[3].

"These highly encouraging results conclude our Phase 1 program for Radspherin and fuel our determination to advance Radspherin as an innovative treatment for patients with peritoneal metastases as quickly as possible," said Oystein Soug, CEO of Oncoinvent. "We are profoundly grateful to the patients, investigators, and the team for their invaluable contributions and look forward to interim results from our Phase 2 study next year."

"Peritoneal metastases remain a defining challenge in ovarian cancer, often driving recurrence," said Dr. Luis Chiva, Principal Investigator and Director of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Spain. "These final results are truly encouraging, suggesting that Radspherin could help delay disease progression and offer patients hope for longer, healthier lives. It is particularly promising to see that the new recurrences were limited to lymph nodes, which are typically associated with longer survival compared to peritoneal relapses.

About RAD-18-001

RAD-18-001 was an open label Phase 1 trial conducted in patients with peritoneal metastases in platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. The trial was designed to evaluate dosing, safety and tolerability, and signal of efficacy of intraperitoneally administered Radspherin following complete surgical resection. A total of 21 patients were enrolled across sites in Norway, Belgium and Spain.

On October 7, 2025 Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) reported it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for ENHERTU (trastuzumab deruxtecan) in combination with pertuzumab for the treatment of patients with HER2 positive unresectable or recurrent breast cancer.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

ENHERTU is a specifically engineered HER2 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo and being developed and commercialized by Daiichi Sankyo in Japan.

HER2 targeted therapies have improved outcomes in HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer; however, prognosis remains poor with most patients experiencing disease progression within two years of first-line treatment with taxane, trastuzumab and pertuzumab (THP), which has been the standard of care for more than a decade.

The sNDA is based on data from the DESTINY-Breast09 phase 3 trial presented during a special latebreaking oral session at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) (#ASCO25) Annual Meeting.

"In DESTINY-Breast09, ENHERTU plus pertuzumab demonstrated a median progression-free survival of more than three years, which represents an impressive improvement over the current standard of care," said Yuki Abe, PhD, Head of R&D Division in Japan and Head of Research, Daiichi Sankyo. "Following the recent approval of ENHERTU in Japan for the treatment of HER2 low or HER2 ultralow metastatic breast cancer, this new submission of ENHERTU plus pertuzumab for the first-line treatment of patients with HER2 positive disease underscores the commitment of Daiichi Sankyo to bring ENHERTU to as many patients as possible in this region across certain subtypes of metastatic breast cancer."

A supplemental Biologics License Application for ENHERTU plus pertuzumab based on data from DESTINY-Breast09 was granted Priority Review in the U.S. under the Real-Time Oncology Review program. The Priority Review follows receipt of Breakthrough Therapy Designation granted by the FDA in July 2025.

About DESTINY-Breast09

DESTINY-Breast09 is a global, multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of ENHERTU (5.4 mg/kg) either alone or in combination with pertuzumab versus standard of care THP (a taxane [docetaxel or paclitaxel], trastuzumab and pertuzumab) as a first-line treatment in patients with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer.

Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive either ENHERTU monotherapy with a pertuzumab matching placebo; ENHERTU in combination with pertuzumab; or THP. Randomization was stratified by prior treatment (de novo metastatic disease versus progression from early-stage disease), hormone receptor (HR) status and PIK3CA mutation status.

The primary endpoint of DESTINY-Breast09 is progression-free survival (PFS) as assessed by blinded independent central review in both the ENHERTU monotherapy and ENHERTU combination arms. Secondary endpoints include investigator-assessed PFS, overall survival, objective response rate, duration of response, pharmacokinetics and safety. The investigational arm assessing ENHERTU monotherapy versus THP remains blinded to patients and investigators and will continue to the final PFS analysis.

DESTINY-Breast09 enrolled 1,157 patients across multiple sites in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. For more information about the trial, visit ClinicalTrials.gov.

About HER2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide.5 More than two million breast cancer cases were diagnosed in 2022, with more than 665,000 deaths globally.5 In Japan, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with approximately 92,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed and 17,600 deaths in 2022. 6 While survival rates are high for those diagnosed with early breast cancer, only about 30% of patients diagnosed with or progress to metastatic disease are expected to live five years following diagnosis.

HER2 is a tyrosine kinase receptor growth-promoting protein expressed on the surface of many types of tumors including breast cancer.8 HER2 protein overexpression may occur as a result of HER2 gene amplification.1 Approximately one in five cases of breast cancer are considered HER2 positive.9 3 HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer is an aggressive disease driven by overexpression or amplification of HER2 that affects 15% to 20% of patients with metastatic breast cancer.10 While HER2 targeted therapies have improved outcomes, prognosis remains poor with most patients experiencing disease progression within two years of first-line treatment with THP, which has been the standard of care for more than a decade.1,2,3,4 Further, approximately 25% to 30% of patients do not receive any treatment following first-line therapy due to discontinuation or death.

About ENHERTU

ENHERTU (trastuzumab deruxtecan; fam-trastuzumab deruxtecan-nxki in the U.S. only) is a HER2 directed ADC. Designed using Daiichi Sankyo’s proprietary DXd ADC Technology, ENHERTU is the lead ADC in the oncology portfolio of Daiichi Sankyo and the most advanced program in AstraZeneca’s ADC scientific platform. ENHERTU consists of a HER2 monoclonal antibody attached to a number of topoisomerase I inhibitor payloads (an exatecan derivative, DXd) via tetrapeptide-based cleavable linkers.

ENHERTU (5.4 mg/kg) is approved in more than 85 countries/regions worldwide for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2 positive (immunohistochemistry [IHC] 3+ or in-situ hybridization (ISH)+) breast cancer who have received a prior anti-HER2-based regimen, either in the metastatic setting or in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting, and have developed disease recurrence during or within six months of completing therapy based on the results from the DESTINY-Breast03 trial.

ENHERTU (5.4 mg/kg) is approved in more than 85 countries/regions worldwide for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2 low (IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ISH-) breast cancer who have received a prior systemic therapy in the metastatic setting or developed disease recurrence during or within six months of completing adjuvant chemotherapy based on the results from the DESTINY-Breast04 trial.

ENHERTU (5.4 mg/kg) is approved in more than 45 countries/regions worldwide for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor (HR) positive, HER2 low (IHC 1+ or IHC 2+/ ISH-) or HER2 ultralow (IHC 0 with membrane staining) breast cancer, as determined by a locally or regionally approved test, that have progressed on one or more endocrine therapies in the metastatic setting based on the results from the DESTINY-Breast06 trial.

ENHERTU (5.4 mg/kg) is approved in more than 60 countries/regions worldwide for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic NSCLC whose tumors have activating HER2 (ERBB2) mutations, as detected by a locally or regionally approved test, and who have received a prior systemic therapy based on the results from the DESTINY-Lung02 and/or DESTINY-Lung05 trials. Continued approval in China and the U.S. for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.

ENHERTU (6.4 mg/kg) is approved in more than 70 countries/regions worldwide for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic HER2 positive (IHC 3+ or IHC 2+/ISH+) gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma who have received a prior trastuzumab-based regimen based on the results from the DESTINY-Gastric01, DESTINY-Gastric02 and/or DESTINY-Gastric06 trials. Continued approval in China for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.

ENHERTU (5.4 mg/kg) is approved in more than 10 countries/regions worldwide for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2 positive (IHC 3+) solid tumors who have received prior systemic treatment and have no satisfactory alternative treatment options based on efficacy results from the DESTINY-PanTumor02, DESTINY-Lung01 and DESTINY-CRC02 trials. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.

About the ENHERTU Clinical Development Program

A comprehensive global clinical development program is underway evaluating the efficacy and safety of ENHERTU as a monotherapy or in combination or sequentially with other cancer medicines across multiple HER2 targetable cancers.

(Press release, Daiichi Sankyo, OCT 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234665027])