On April 7, 2026 Rosalind Franklin University Helix 51 incubator company UP Oncolytics reported encouraging preclinical results in two studies for a novel glioblastoma therapy presented at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Special Conference on Brain Cancer, held March 23–25 in Philadelphia.

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The studies highlight the potential of an oncolytic virus-based therapy to both predict treatment response and drive tumor regression in glioblastoma (GBM), one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

GBM remains highly resistant to treatment, with approximately 13,000 new U.S. cases each year and a median survival of just 14 months. Despite broader advances in oncology, no new FDA-approved therapies for GBM have emerged in the past two decades.

UP Oncolytics’ presentations focused on its lead therapy using Zika virus-based oncolytic technology for gliomas:

Predicting treatment response: In the study "Transcriptomic Prediction of Zika Virus Susceptibility in Glioblastoma Cell Lines Using Feature Selection and Machine Learning Approaches," researchers used machine learning to identify and understand genetic and molecular markers associated with tumor sensitivity or resistance to therapy.

"The ability to predict a tumor’s response to treatment ensures patients receive therapies most likely to be effective for their specific disease," said Anna Lundeen, graduate student with UP Oncolytics.

Demonstrating Therapeutic Impact: The study, "Low-neurovirulence wild-type Zika virus strains induce durable tumor regression and survival benefit in patient-derived glioblastoma models," showed complete tumor remission and prolonged survival in in vivo GBM models following treatment.

The research was conducted, in part, in collaboration with RFU’s Center for Cancer Cell Biology, Immunology and Infection, and Center for Proteomics and Molecular Therapeutics, with additional support from the university’s research cores. Ongoing collaboration with RFU is further supported by a recent Illinois Innovation Voucher Program award through the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"We are pleased with the promising results of these two studies," said Parvez Akhtar, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of UP Oncolytics. "They promise a new approach to effectively treating GBM tumors while minimizing impact on normal cells. We are working hard to bring this advance to patients."

Janice Urban, PhD, RFU Interim Executive Vice President for Research, added, "UP Oncolytics continues to meet key development milestones, and we are optimistic that this new approach to treating intractable cancer is on the horizon for GBM patients."

(Press release, Rosalind Franklin University, APR 7, 2026, View Source [SID1234664213])

On April 7, 2026 BioOra Limited ("BioOra"), a commercial-stage cell therapy company advancing CAR-T therapies for cancer patients, and Octane Biotech Inc., an Octane Medical Group Company ("Octane"), reported the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on the co-development and deployment of advanced cell therapies using the Cocoon automated cell therapy manufacturing platform.

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The collaboration builds upon the existing partnership through which BioOra’s CD19-targeted CAR-T therapy (Atla-Cel) is produced by Octane’s Cocoon Platform for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma in New Zealand as part of the registration trial (ENABLE-2). Under the agreement, BioOra and Octane will work together to expand manufacturing capacity to support BioOra’s regional growth, beginning with Australia and extending to additional international markets.

Octane is advancing the Cocoon Platform to enable efficient, decentralized scaling of cell therapy manufacturing. In parallel, BioOra is constructing a bespoke cell therapy manufacturing facility in Christchurch New Zealand, the BioOra Health & Technology Centre, designed to concurrently operate Cocoon systems to meet growing regional demand for CAR-T and other advanced cell therapies. By leveraging the automated and integrated design of the Cocoon Platform, the collaboration is expected to improve operational efficiency, increase manufacturing throughput, and reduce vein-to-vein time, supporting a new model for delivering personalized cell therapies.

"BioOra has demonstrated that manufacturing using the Cocoon Platform can support the commercial delivery of CAR-T therapy in New Zealand," said John Robson, Chief Executive Officer of BioOra. "Our new Christchurch facility is designed to scale this model using multiple Cocoon systems. Partnering with Octane allows us to expand into Australia and beyond while improving efficiency and increasing patient access."

"Octane was founded to unlock the full potential of cell therapy production," said Timothy Smith, CEO and co-founder of Octane. "BioOra is setting the standard for how this model can be deployed at scale. By combining Cocoon-enabled automation with BioOra’s leading clinical and manufacturing infrastructure, we are building a more efficient, scalable paradigm that has the potential to redefine access to cell therapies globally."

The collaboration is also expected to expand international patient access through therapy delivery in New Zealand, and potentially in Australia, where BioOra is establishing partnerships to deliver CAR-T therapies to the large number of patients who do not have access in their home countries.

As part of the collaboration, BioOra and Octane intend to develop closed, integrated, end-to-end manufacturing solutions spanning cell collection, automated processing, and final product release for BioOra cell therapy products. These innovations are designed to simplify manufacturing workflows, further improving the accessibility and practicality of CAR-T therapy.

"CAR-T therapies have demonstrated extraordinary potential to cure otherwise lethal cancers, but scaling access has been limited by manufacturing complexity," said Laurence Cooper, MD, PhD, CAR-T pioneer, and Board Member of BioOra. "Aligning automation with advanced therapeutics through the Cocoon Platform can dramatically expand access. This collaboration fits directly with BioOra’s vision of becoming the first commercial CAR-T company in the Southern Hemisphere, bringing these transformative therapies to far more patients."

The collaboration will focus on:

Scaling BioOra’s CAR-T manufacturing operations in New Zealand using the Cocoon Platform
Expanding manufacturing into Australia and North America to support regional patient access
Developing additional cell therapy programs for deployment on the Cocoon Platform
Co-developing production efficiencies to further automate CAR-T manufacturing solutions
The companies expect to formalize additional development and commercialization agreements following the execution of definitive collaboration agreements.

(Press release, BioOra, APR 7, 2026, View Source [SID1234664229])

On April 7, 2026 Alloy Therapeutics Inc. ("Alloy"), a biotechnology ecosystem company dedicated to democratizing access to cutting-edge drug discovery technologies, reported a collaboration and license agreement with Biogen Inc. for the use of Alloy’s novel and proprietary AntiClastic ASO Platform. Through this collaboration, Biogen will apply the platform to advance antisense therapeutics against multiple undisclosed targets. Alloy will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for additional milestone payments and tiered royalties on any products resulting from the collaboration.

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The collaboration and license agreement brings together Biogen’s scientific leadership and experience in advancing innovative medicines with Alloy’s proprietary antisense discovery capabilities. Alloy’s AntiClastic ASO platform enables drug developers to realize the full potential of antisense therapeutics by reaching intracellular disease targets at the RNA level. The platform is specifically designed to address potency and therapeutic index challenges that have historically held back the promise of antisense drugs due to limited biodistribution and, therefore, efficacy.

"Biogen has built an extraordinary reputation for scientific leadership and for translating breakthrough research into impactful therapies," said Errik Anderson, CEO and Founder of Alloy Therapeutics. "We value our long-standing relationship and are honored to support their world-class teams with access to our AntiClastic ASO Platform and broader technology ecosystem, helping enable the continued pursuit of innovative treatments that have the potential to change patients’ lives."

"This collaboration reflects Biogen’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of scientific innovation and exploring novel approaches to address complex diseases," said Jane Grogan, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Head of Research at Biogen. "Partnering with Alloy allows us to expand our research strategies and continue advancing programs with the potential to benefit patients worldwide."

Alloy’s capabilities span an integrated ecosystem of drug discovery platforms designed to accelerate the development of innovative therapeutics. The company continues to integrate advanced technologies, including computational and AI-enabled approaches, to enhance discovery and optimization across its programs.

About the Alloy Therapeutics Genetic Medicines AntiClastic ASO Platform

The AntiClastic ASO platform designs novel oligonucleotide formats, exclusively available through partnerships with Alloy’s Genetic Medicines division, to overcome potency and therapeutic index challenges that have historically limited the promise of antisense drugs. Dr. Sudhir Agrawal invented the core technology, which combines improvements in the primary sequence with a proprietary spatial conformation of nucleic acid drugs to promote the delivery of antisense to target RNA, mitigate the inflammatory response, and improve a drug’s therapeutic index. The resulting drug candidates have shown a significant increase in potency compared to gapmer antisense formats. Partners can apply this format to existing antisense sequences or partner to discover new AntiClastic oligonucleotide molecules to precisely deliver therapeutic payloads to their intended target.

(Press release, Alloy Therapeutics, APR 7, 2026, View Source [SID1234664198])

On April 7, 2026 Phanes Therapeutics, Inc. (Phanes), a clinical stage biotech company focused on innovative drug discovery and development in oncology, reported the initiation of the dose expansion phase in their clinical study evaluating spevatamig in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of biliary tract cancer (BTC), following dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) clearance at two dose levels.

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Spevatamig is a first-in-class native IgG-like bispecific antibody (bsAb) targeting claudin 18.2 and CD47. It was granted orphan drug designation (ODD) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer by the FDA in 2022 and was granted Fast Track designation for the treatment of patients with metastatic claudin 18.2-positive pancreatic adenocarcinoma in 2024. In 2023, Phanes entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck (known as MSD outside the US and Canada) to study spevatamig in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, pembrolizumab.

Phanes is conducting clinical trials with spevatamig in multiple oncology indications, including a Phase 2 study evaluating the efficacy of spevatamig in combination with chemotherapy in first-line pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients. As of March 2026, more than 160 patients globally have been dosed with spevatamig collectively in monotherapy and combination therapy settings. Three posters on spevatamig will be presented at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego. Presentation details can be found here: Phanes Therapeutics to present three clinical posters at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2026

(Press release, Phanes Therapeutics, APR 7, 2026, View Source [SID1234664214])

On April 7, 2026 Anavex Life Sciences Corp. ("Anavex" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: AVXL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and rare diseases, including Rett syndrome, and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders, reported that it will present at the 25th Annual Needham Virtual Healthcare Conference, April 13 – 16, 2026. President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher U. Missling, PhD and his management team will present the Company scheduled at 1:30 PM (ET) on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026.

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A live audio webcast will be accessible through the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.anavex.com. An archived edition of the session will be available later that day.

(Press release, Anavex Life Sciences, APR 7, 2026, View Source [SID1234664199])