On April 17, 2025 MOMA Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing a new generation of precision therapeutics, reported three poster presentations at the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, being held April 25 – 30, 2025 in Chicago, IL (Press release, MOMA Therapeutics, APR 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234651984]).

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AACR poster presentation details are below:

MOMA-313 is a potent and selective inhibitor of the Polθ DNA helicase domain for the treatment of HR-deficient tumors
Session Title: PO.ET09.05 – Novel Antitumor Agents 1
Location: Section 22
Abstract Number: 1749
Date/Time: April 28, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT
Presenting Author: Jordan Krall, Ph.D.

TA repeat expansion outperforms MSI-H status as a predictor of sensitivity to the novel WRN inhibitor MOMA-341
Session Title: PO.ET06.07 – DNA Damage Response and Modulation of DNA Repair 2
Location: Section 15
Abstract Number: 4205
Date/Time: April 29, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT
Presenting Author: Allison Drew

Orally Administered MOMA-313 as Monotherapy or Combination Therapy in Participants with Advanced or Metastatic Solid Homologous Recombination (HR)-Deficient Tumors: Phase 1 Study Design
Session Title: CTP01.02 – Phase I Clinical Trials in Progress 2
Location: Section 50
Abstract Number: CT192
Date/Time: April 29, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT
Presenting Author: Amita Patnaik, M.D.

Abstracts are currently available on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website. The posters can be accessed through the "News & Publications" tab on the MOMA Therapeutics website at the time of each presentation’s starting session.

On April 17, 2025 Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) reported its PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx (Code SK006) assay reported to have received European IVDR certification for the use as a Companion Diagnostic (CDx) to aid in the identification of gastric or gastroesophageal Junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma patients who may be eligible for treatment with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) (Press release, Agilent, APR 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234651983]). PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx (Code SK006) is approved for exclusive use with the Agilent Autostainer Link 48 advanced staining solution. KEYTRUDA is an anti-PD-1 therapy developed by Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada).

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In addition to gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma, PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx is IVDR certified as an aid in identifying non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), urothelial carcinoma, esophageal cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and cervical cancer patients for treatment with KEYTRUDA. Consequently, PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx is labeled for seven cancer indications and is the only IVDR-certified CDx to identify gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma patients for treatment with KEYTRUDA.

"Immunotherapies, such as KEYTRUDA, are critical for cancer patients," said Nina Green, vice president and general manager of the Clinical Diagnostics Division at Agilent. "With the current European indication expansion of PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx into gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma, pathology laboratories can now support an even broader patient population in determining their eligibility for relevant treatment options."

Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. In Europe, gastric adenocarcinoma, typically diagnosed at an advanced stage, has a 5-year survival rate of 26%.2 In 2022, more than 130,000 Europeans were diagnosed with gastric cancer.3

In Europe, KEYTRUDA, in combination with trastuzumab, fluoropyrimidine, and platinum-containing chemotherapy, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1 (CPS ≥ 1). Furthermore, KEYTRUDA, in combination with fluoropyrimidine and platinum-containing chemotherapy, is indicated for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1 (CPS ≥1).4

PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx was developed by Agilent in partnership with Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) as a companion diagnostic for KEYTRUDA.

KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

On April 17, 2025 Kairos Pharma, Ltd. (NYSE American: KAPA) a clinical stage company involved in treating EGFR-driven lung cancer patients with ENV105 in combination with osimertinib after they fail to respond to single-agent osimertinib in a Phase 1 trial, reported that based on recent breakthroughs in understanding non-small cell lung cancer mechanism of resistance to first line osimertinib treatment, the U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD") is providing $876,000 to advance a strategy to identify patients that are starting to develop resistance at an early stage (Press release, Kairos Pharma, APR 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234651982]). The grant was awarded to identify biomarkers for the Company’s clinical study to address the major challenge in achieving a lasting cure for lung cancer patients. The grant was awarded to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to support research in Dr. Neil Bhowmick’s laboratory to identify biomarkers of patients with non-small cell carcinoma who have developed resistance to Osimertinib. This will provide a means to identify those patients who will benefit from ENV105.

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Kairos Pharma CEO John Yu, M.D., stated, "Peer-reviewed support like this DoD grant is a testament to the sound scientific basis for our current Phase 1 trial in lung cancer patients receiving ENV105. It is particularly gratifying in the current environment, in which these grants are harder to achieve, underscoring the potential for ENV105 to help ensure effective therapy in this lung cancer form common to non-smokers. Grants like this enable us to progress with our trials while minimizing expense and managing our cash burn."

The DoD grant is designed to contribute to a strategy to limit resistance to osimertinib at its most early stages, by identifying patients that would be best helped by ENV105 treatment. In the near term, the Company expects that the funded study may lead to more effective monitoring and early detection of resistance development, allowing for more timely interventions to improve overall survival and quality of life for patients.

On April 17, 2025 BigHat Biosciences ("BigHat"), a biotechnology company with a machine learning (ML)-guided antibody discovery and development platform, reported a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly") (Press release, BigHat Biosciences, APR 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234651981]). In this collaboration, BigHat will deploy its Milliner platform, a suite of state-of-the-art ML technologies integrated with a synthetic biology-based high-speed wet lab, to design and engineer therapeutic antibodies with superior functionality.

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BigHat and Lilly will collaborate to design and discover next-generation antibodies for up to two antibody therapeutic programs. This partnership aims to design, engineer, and develop antibodies with enhanced functionality and improved biophysical properties to create therapeutics that will benefit patients with chronic disease.

"Partnering with Lilly represents an exciting opportunity to harness the full potential of AI-driven biologic design. By combining Lilly’s deep expertise in drug discovery and development with BigHat’s machine learning-powered Milliner platform, we can accelerate the advancement of truly differentiated, next-generation protein therapeutics," said Peyton Greenside, CEO and Co-founder of BigHat.

This collaboration builds on BigHat’s strategy to engage in value-generating strategic partnerships balanced with an exciting internal pipeline of proprietary therapeutics in the areas of oncology and immunology. BigHat’s ML-powered platform is designed to tackle molecular engineering challenges and unlock the development of novel therapeutics for the improvement of patient outcomes. In addition to supporting the development of its partners’ therapeutic programs, BigHat has built and advanced a pipeline of next-gen antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and functionally differentiated T-cell engagers (TCEs) across indications in both oncology and immunology. BigHat is advancing a next-generation ADC for GI cancers into the clinic in 2026. Lilly Catalyze360 will provide support, while BigHat retains full global rights and control to the program.

In addition to the antibody discovery collaboration and support for BigHat’s ADC for GI cancers, Lilly will also make an equity investment in BigHat. This collaboration is part of the Lilly Catalyze360 model, which is a comprehensive approach to empower early-stage biotech startups across all therapeutic areas by providing access to funding as well as world-class lab space and/or drug development talent and resources through its three pillars: Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs, and Lilly ExploR&D.

On April 17, 2025 Researchers with City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. with its National Medical Center named top 5 in the nation for cancer by U.S. News & World Report, reported it will present the latest cancer research at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2025, which will take place April 25 to 30 in Chicago (Press release, City of Hope, APR 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234651980]).

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City of Hope experts will present more than 74 chaired, plenary, educational, minisymposium, poster and other sessions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI), multiomics and other emerging technologies in cancer research, advances in the clinical application of natural killer cells, new clinical trial results, translating research into policy through community engagement and much more.

"The extensive breadth and depth of research being presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) by City of Hope’s researchers exemplifies our commitment to making hope a reality for all cancer patients," said John D. Carpten, Ph.D., City of Hope’s chief scientific officer, Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s Distinguished Chair and Morgan & Helen Chu Director’s Chair of the Beckman Research Institute "We are proud to share our dedication to developing innovative technologies and treatments for improved care through a combination of scientific discovery, clinical ingenuity and compassion."

Chaired sessions

David W. Craig, Ph.D., professor and founding chair of the Department of Integrative Translational Sciences within Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, is chairing the final plenary session of the conference, "Opportunities in Predicative Oncology." He will deliver opening and closing remarks for the session focused on exploring emerging computational, biological and clinical approaches to learn more about tumors at multiple levels and improve precision medicine. "Opportunities in Predictive Oncology," plenary session PL05, will take place on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 8 to 10 a.m.

"This session will explore how researchers are working at the forefront of our field and pushing the boundaries of cancer care by using leading-edge technologies to improve how we can target disease on an individual basis," Dr. Craig said. "Combining multifaceted sets of data allows us to better understand treatment resistance, build stronger predictive models and enhance outcomes using precision medicine."

Dr. Craig is also chair of an educational session on integrating AI and data science to gain deeper insights into the causes of cancer and how it progresses. He will present on using a biological analysis approach called multiomics to investigate the unique genetic makeup of different cell populations in solid tumors.

"Accelerating Cancer Research with AI and Data Science: Multi-scale Multi-Modal Integration for Deeper Insights," educational session ED04, is on Friday, April 25, 2025, 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. Dr. Craig’s presentation, "Resolving spatial subclonal genomic heterogeneity using the integration of multi-omic genomic approaches in solid tumors," is the first of the session.

In addition, Nina (Jiarong) Song, a graduate student in Dr. Craig’s lab, will present new data from a team of researchers that highlights the use of AI to integrate digital pathology, genomics and spatial transcriptomics to gain new insights into glioblastoma, triple-negative breast cancer and colorectal cancer progression. Part of the minisymposium MS.BCS01.01 "Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Basic and Translational Research," held on Sunday, April 27, 2025, 3 to 5 p.m., Song’s presentation, "Decoding tumor microenvironment with deep learning: merging spatial transcriptomics and histopathology," is the first talk of the minisymposium.

Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D., former president of City of Hope National Medical Center and professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, is the chair of two educational sessions. He will introduce a session on advances in the application of natural killer (NK) cells — a type of white blood cell that destroys cancer and can be harnessed as a therapeutic intervention, which is being researched at City of Hope — and present on "Innate immune lymphocytes, including NK cells." The educational session ED57, "Natural Killer Cells: Advances in Basic Biology and Clinical Applications," is on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 10 to 11:30 a.m. Dr. Caligiuri’s presentation is the first of the session.

Dr. Caligiuri is also chair of ED54, "Academic Entrepreneurship: Getting Your Discovery to Patients, Part 1—Liftoff," on Saturday, April 26, 2025, 8 to 9:30 a.m., which will help define the steps required for translating research from the bench to the bedside.

Select presentations by City of Hope scientists and physicians include:

"Managing and predicting toxicities from new and emerging ADCs"

As part of a session on advances in diagnostics and therapeutics, Hope Rugo, M.D., who recently joined City of Hope as director of its Women’s Cancers Program, will talk about new findings in managing toxicities from antibody-drug conjugates. (Advances in Diagnostics and Therapeutics session ADT04: Monday, April 28, 2025, 1:25 to 1:45 p.m.)

Dr. Rugo will also serve as a discussant at the Clinical Trials Plenary Session on Biologics and T-cell Engagers on Tuesday, April 29, 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

"Multi-omics analysis of MYC gene and WNT signaling pathway alterations in early-onset colorectal cancer in Hispanic/Latino patients, enhanced with spatial transcriptomics approaches"

Francisco (Paco) Carranza, a postdoctoral scientist in the lab of Enrique Velazquez Villarreal, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Translational Sciences, will present on the investigation of early-onset colorectal cancer in young Hispanic/Latino populations using multi-omics analysis to improve precision medicine in underrepresented populations. (Minisymposium session 3742: Monday, April 28, 2025, 2:35 to 2:50 p.m.)

"PM-AI agent: A conversational artificial intelligence system for precision medicine and advancing health equity through integrative clinical, genomic and social determinants of health data analysis"

Dr. Velazquez Villarreal will also present a poster on the development of a new precision medicine AI tool that addresses key challenges in the integration of clinical, genomic, population-specific variables and social determinants of health to promote better equity in cancer research. (Poster presentation 1115/1: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 2 to 5 p.m.)

"Penpulimab versus placebo in combination with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A global, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial (AK105-304)"

Medical oncologist Aditya Shreenivas, M.D., M.S. will present new data from phase 3 of a clinical trial testing Penpulimab, a humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, in patients with advanced nasopharyngaeal carcinoma. (Clinical trials minisymposium session CT011: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 3:50 to 4 p.m.)

"Overcoming intrinsic mechanisms of cell cycle inhibitor resistance in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer"

Kimya Karimi, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Andrea Bild, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, will present new data from a City of Hope study exploring a combination treatment to overcome primary endocrine therapy resistance in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. (Minisymposium session 6383: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 3:05 to 3:20 p.m.)

"The science and art of community engagement for translating research into cancer-related policy and implementation"

Kimlin Tam Ashing, Ph.D., professor and founding director of the Center of Community Alliance for Research & Education at City of Hope will present during an educational session on building community outreach and engagement partnerships for improved health outcomes. (Educational session ED39: Friday, April 25, 2025, 3:30 to 3:50 p.m.)

Highlighted poster sessions

Jing Qian, a senior research associate in the lab of Dr. Carpten is first author on "Spatial transcriptomics reveals differences in the tumor and immune microenvironment of high-grade serous ovarian cancers with differing responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors." (Late breaking poster session LB076/12: Sunday, April 27, 2025, 2 to 5 p.m.)

Peter Zang, M.D., a hematology and oncology fellow is first author on "Digital spatial profling with GeoMx to identify differential protein expression in Non-Hispanic/Latino and Hispanic/Latino Patients with metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer," a poster abstract that outlines work from the lab of senior author Tanya Barauskas Dorff, M.D., professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research on the complex interplay between ethnicity and disease biology in prostate cancer. (Poster session 5103/8: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 2 to 5 p.m.)

A poster presentation by Sydney Grant, a postdoctoral fellow, and Aritro Nath, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, "Integrating multimodal data with survival-based variational autoencoders to predict recurrence-free survival in breast cancer," highlights a new model the team developed to predict recurrence-free survival in breast cancer patients. (Poster session 5011/15: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 9 a.m. to noon)