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Infinimmune Announces Partnership with Grid Therapeutics to Conduct Deep Sequencing of B Cells for Oncology Drug Discovery

On December 19, 2023 Infinimmune, a biotechnology company pioneering new methods for antibody drug discovery and development, reported a partnership with Grid Therapeutics ("Grid"), a clinical stage biotechnology company that focuses on human-derived antibodies, to collaborate in identifying new antibody drug candidates for non-small cell lung cancer (Press release, Infinimmune, DEC 19, 2023, View Source [SID1234638703]).

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The partnership will use Infinimmune’s Anthrobody drug discovery platform. Infinimmune’s therapeutic pipeline is built on antibodies that are complete, encompassing the full binding and effector regions of both chains. These are produced by human immune systems, distinct from those derived from model organisms, display libraries, or computational algorithms.

During the course of the collaboration, the two companies will jointly study the antibody repertoire from a large cohort of non-small cell lung cancer patients and control patients, who were selected on the basis of their clinical status and response to standard of care chemotherapies and immunotherapies. This will enable Grid and Infinimmune to prioritize their discovery approach using clinical information to understand differences and similarities between the antibody responses of individuals in response to lung cancer progression.

"We are delighted to partner with Grid Therapeutics to study the antibody response in a carefully curated and longitudinal cohort of non-small cell lung cancer patients," said Wyatt McDonnell, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Infinimmune. "By leveraging our Anthrobody platform and Complete Human immunosequencing technology to identify truly human therapeutics, our collaboration with Grid Therapeutics will identify features of the antibody repertoire in non-small cell lung cancer in the pursuit of novel antibody therapeutics against existing and new targets. We are grateful to the patients who generously agreed to participate in this research."

"We are thrilled to partner with the Infinimmune team in the ongoing and transformative effort to develop novel therapeutic antibodies for cancer patients," said Edward (Ned) F. Patz,. Jr., MD, Chief Executive Officer, Grid Therapeutics. "We aim to take full advantage of Infinimmune’s truly human antibody data, to efficiently identify better and safer therapeutics. Like Infinimmune, Grid has a platform that probes the human immune response, which we believe will be pivotal in driving the next generation of immunotherapies."

RenovoRx Announces Clinical Data Abstract at the 2024 Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting

On December 19, 2023 RenovoRx, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNXT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel precision oncology therapies based on a local drug-delivery platform, reported the acceptance of a clinical data abstract for the 2024 Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Annual Scientific Meeting, held March 23-28 in Salt Lake City, Utah (Press release, Renovorx, DEC 19, 2023, View Source [SID1234638701]). The abstract will highlight the Company’s lead product candidate, RenovoGem, and proprietary Trans-Arterial Micro-Perfusion (TAMP) therapy platform for the treatment of Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (LAPC), a difficult-to-access, solid tumor cancer.

"We are pleased to present research supporting our TAMP therapy platform at the upcoming SIR 2024 conference, the largest professional gathering of interventional radiologists in North America," said Shaun Bagai, CEO of RenovoRx. "This research adds to the continued progress of our pivotal Phase III TIGeR-PaC study in LAPC. We remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver transformative therapies to potentially extend and improve the quality of life of cancer patients."

Presentation Details:
Title: Mesenteric Venous Thrombosis as a Predictor of Target Artery Thrombosis and Tran-Arterial Micro Perfusion Treatment Completion Among Patients with Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Michel Accad, MD, et al.
Abstract ID: 1632169

For more information about the conference, visit View Source

ImpriMed Raises $23 Million Series A Round to Expand its Revolutionary AI-Powered Cancer Treatment Technology

On December 19, 2023 ImpriMed, a leading precision medicine startup focused on leveraging artificial intelligence to improve cancer treatment, reported the close of a $23 million Series A funding round, led by SBVA. HRZ Han River Partners, SK Telecom, KDB Silicon Valley, Ignite Innovation Fund, Samyang Chemical Group, Murex Partners, and Byucksan also participated in this round (Press release, ImpriMed, DEC 19, 2023, View Source [SID1234638700]). The funding will enable ImpriMed to expand its revolutionary drug response prediction technology beyond veterinary medicine into human oncology, increase headcount, and broaden its business development and research and development pipeline.

The only precision medicine company using AI and comprehensive analysis of canine and feline cancer cells to make personalized drug response predictions, ImpriMed is delivering real-world results at scale. To date, 250+ veterinary hospitals in more than 40 states have deployed ImpriMed’s technology, with more than 15,000 canine and feline blood cancer tests completed. The company is challenging the status quo for treatment in animal cancer patients, building and validating its AI models for clinical outcomes, and enabling veterinary professionals to deliver more successful results. Moving forward, ImpriMed aims to address the overall cancer precision medicine space, which is estimated to reach $100.5 billion by the end of 2028 (source: Research and Markets). Its work will arm hospitals with drug treatment response predictions, ensure stronger prognosis evaluations, and more effectively stratify treatment risks.

"As the importance of precision medicine in conquering cancer continues to grow, ImpriMed has been producing significant results in the treatment of canine cancer, based on an abundance of clinical data," remarked Jay Choi, Principal at SBVA, which led this investment round. "We highly value ImpriMed’s potential to commercialize customized medical services for a variety of cancer diseases."

According to Sungwon Lim, CEO of ImpriMed, "This significant funding, secured in a challenging global investment landscape, is a strong endorsement of our technological innovation and growth trajectory. We are eager to transfer our expertise from veterinary to human cancer care, aspiring to become a pioneer in the precision medicine arena." Additionally, ImpriMed intends to broaden its CRO services to assist pharmaceutical companies in clinical trial designs and drug combination strategies, leveraging its unique technology that evaluates drug sensitivity in patients’ live cancer cells.

ImpriMed, which was co-founded in 2017 by Sungwon Lim, CEO, and Jamin Koo, CTO—both distinguished alumni of Stanford University and KAIST (The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)—specialized in utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance the efficacy of personalized cancer treatments. Its AI algorithms are used in combination with a patient’s live cancer cell analytics, the results of which are far more accurate predictions of how a specific patient will respond to a particular cancer therapy before administration. The company’s multiple myeloma prognosis and drug response prediction software is an innovative medical device already recognized by the Korea Food and Drug Administration and is targeted for commercialization in the United States in 2025.

InxMed Enters License Agreement with Escugen to Develop Next-Generation ADCs

On December 19, 2023 InxMed, a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicates on developing innovative therapies against drug resistance, and Escugen, a clinical-stage antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) company, reported that InxMed licensed EZWi-Fit linker-payload platform from Escugen for the development of the next generation tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) targeting ADCs (Press release, InxMed, DEC 19, 2023, View Source [SID1234638698]).

The license agreement provides InxMed with right to use EZWi-Fit platform on the several novel ADC candidate molecules. InxMed will have the right for development, manufacturing, and commercialization of these ADC candidate molecules.

InxMed is developing next generation TAAs targeting ADCs with significant improvement of efficacy and therapeutic window. Meanwhile, the company is developing solutions to boost ADC’s efficacy including enhancing ADC penetration via FAK inhibitor and developing stroma targeting ADC to create synergy.

InxMed is positioned to invent next generation ADCs, with the attributes to be more tumor selective and potent, and broad combination potential. The novel antibodies discovered by InxMed to be equipped with payload from EZWi-Fitplatform will be one of key differentiations.

New Drug Application of Mabwell’s 8MW0511 for Injection Accepted by NMPA

On December 19, 2023 Mabwell (688062.SH), an innovative biopharmaceutical company with entire industry chain, reported that the new drug application of its recombinant (yeast-secreted) human serum albumin-human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (I) fusion protein for injection (R&D code: 8MW0511) has been accepted by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for use in adult patients with non-myeloid malignant neoplasms to reduce the incidence of infections manifested by febrile neutropenia when receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs that are susceptible to febrile neutropenia (Press release, Mabwell Biotech, DEC 19, 2023, View Source [SID1234638697]).

8MW0511, a Class 1 therapeutic biological product, is a new generation of long-acting G-CSF (modified cytokine with high activity) with independent intellectual property rights owned by Mabwell. 8MW0511 is produced by fusing the N-terminus of the modified G-CSF mutant gene with the C-terminus of human serum albumin with gene fusion technology. It significantly inhibits the G-CSF receptor-mediated clearance pathway, which prolongs the half-life period, reduces the frequency of drug administration, and improves the treatment compliance in clinical use. 8MW0511 is produced by yeast expression system, which brings better homogeneity, simplifies production process, and is expected to reduce the cost of production by avoiding the PEG modification reactions.

The results of the Phase III clinical study of 8MW0511 presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) in 2023 showed that 8MW0511 was clinically effective, non-inferior to the positive control, PEG-rhG-CSF (Jinyouli), and improved the incidence and duration of Grade 4 neutropenia, especially in cycle 2-3 where the incidence of Grade 4 neutropenia was significantly lower than that of the positive control group. The overall safety profile was similar to that of the positive control group, which indicates manageable safety profile and good tolerance in humans.