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Hengrui Pharma and GSK enter agreements to develop up to 12 innovative medicines across Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation and Oncology

On July 27, 2025 Hengrui Pharma (600276.SH; 01276.HK) reported it has entered into agreements with GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) to develop up to 12 innovative medicines, adding significant value to the globalization strategy of Hengrui and significant new growth opportunities to GSK beyond 2031 (Press release, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, JUL 27, 2025, View Source;inflammation-and-oncology-302514566.html [SID1234654554]). The programmes were selected to complement GSK’s extensive Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation (RI&I) and Oncology pipeline, and assessed for their potential best- or first-in-class profiles. GSK will pay $500 million in upfront fees across the agreements.

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The agreements include an exclusive worldwide license (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan region) for a potential best-in-class, PDE3/4 inhibitor (HRS-9821) in clinical development for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as an add-on maintenance treatment, irrespective of background therapy. The addition of HRS-9821 supports GSK’s ambition to treat patients across the widest spectrum of COPD by including those who face continued dyspnoea (shortness of breath) or who are unlikely to receive inhaled corticosteroids or biologics, based on their disease profile.

HRS-9821 has demonstrated potent PDE3 and PDE4 inhibition, leading to increased bronchodilation and anti-inflammatory effects in early clinical and preclinical studies. In addition, HRS-9821 provides the opportunity for a convenient dry-powder inhaler (DPI) formulation that strategically fits GSK’s established inhaled portfolio.

The agreements also include a pioneering scaled collaboration to generate up to 11 programmes in addition to HRS-9821, each with its own financial structure. Hengrui Pharma will lead the development of these programmes up to completion of phase I trials, including patients outside of China. GSK will have the exclusive option to further develop and commercialise each programme worldwide (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan region), at the end of phase I or earlier at GSK’s election as well as certain programme substitution rights.

Frank Jiang, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Hengrui Pharma, said: "This strategic collaboration with GSK marks yet another significant milestone in Hengrui’s globalisation journey and our mission to innovate and deliver higher-quality, cutting-edge therapies for patients worldwide. GSK brings additional R&D expertise, a robust global clinical network, and broad regulatory capabilities that will accelerate our PDE3/4 inhibitor as well as an array of other innovative therapy programs to overseas markets, potentially delivering breakthrough treatments to patients globally."

Tony Wood, Chief Scientific Officer, GSK said: "We’re delighted to announce these exciting agreements with Hengrui Pharma which complement our already-extensive pipeline. This deal reflects our strategic investment in programmes that address validated targets, increasing the likelihood of success, and with the option to advance those assets with the greatest potential for patient impact."

The collaboration enables scale and speed to proof-of-concept to develop up to 11 additional innovative medicines. It benefits from GSK’s therapy area expertise, deep understanding of disease biology, clinical development capability and global commercial scale with Hengrui Pharma’s early discovery engine, platform technologies, extensive pre-clinical pipeline of high-value programmes and speed of clinical evaluation.

Financial considerations
GSK will pay $500 million in upfront fees across the agreements including for the license of the PDE3/4 programme. The potential total value of future success-based development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments to Hengrui Pharma is approximately $12 billion if all programmes are optioned and all milestones are achieved. In addition, Hengrui Pharma will be eligible to receive tiered royalties on global product net sales (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan region).

The license to HRS-9821 is subject to customary conditions, including applicable regulatory agency clearances under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in the US.

Antengene Announces Poster Presentation of ATG-022 (Claudin 18.2 ADC) at ESMO 2025

On July 27, 2025 Antengene Corporation Limited ("Antengene", SEHK: 6996.HK), a leading innovative, commercial-stage global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercialising first-in-class and/or best-in-class medicines for cancer, reported that an abstract featuring the latest data from a Phase I/II study of the Claudin 18.2 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), ATG-022, has been accepted for poster presentation at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology Annual Congress (ESMO 2025), taking place from October 17th to October 21st at the Messe Berlin in Berlin, Germany (Press release, Antengene, JUL 27, 2025, View Source;302514585.html [SID1234654553]).

Details of the Poster Presentation:

ATG-022 (Claudin 18.2 antibody-drug conjugate)
Title: Phase I/II study of Claudin 18.2 ADC ATG-022 in patients with advanced gastric/ gastroesophageal junction cancer (CLINCH)
Abstract Number: 2907
Presentation Number: 2113P
Date: October 19, 2025

About ATG-022

ATG-022 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) designed to target CLDN18.2, a member of the Claudin family of cell adhesion molecules. Under normal conditions, Claudins are located within tight junctions between cells, forming a barrier to regulate cell permeability. However, in cancer, Claudins are aberrantly expressed on the cell surface due to changes in cell polarity. CLDN18.2 is frequently overexpressed in a range of primary malignant tumors, including gastric, esophageal, cholangiocarcinoma, and pancreatic cancers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded Orphan Drug Designations to ATG-022, for gastric and pancreatic cancers.

Data from the ongoing CLINCH study demonstrated that ATG-022 delivers robust efficacy across all levels of CLDN18.2 expression in gastric cancer patients, including those with high, low, and ultra-low expression. This broad activity positions ATG-022 as a potential market leader, capable of addressing the largest patient population with CLDN18.2-positive tumors. Furthermore, the strong efficacy observed in patients with low CLDN18.2 expression suggests promise for treating other tumor types with similar expression profiles.

2025 2Q Earnings

On July 25, 2025 Hanmi reported second quarter 2025 financial results (Presentation, Hanmi, JUL 25, 2025, View Source [SID1234655539]).

BriaCell Announces Two Clinical Data Poster Presentations at ESMO 2025

On July 25, 2025 BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. (Nasdaq: BCTX, BCTXW, BCTXZ) (TSX: BCT) ("BriaCell" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops novel immunotherapies to transform cancer care, reported two clinical data poster presentations at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2025 Annual Meeting taking place October 17 – 21 in Berlin, Germany (Press release, BriaCell Therapeutics, JUL 25, 2025, View Source [SID1234655034]).

The titles of the poster presentations are listed below.

#8212: Phase III Pivotal Trial of Bria-IMT + CPI vs Physician’s Choice in Advanced Metastatic Breast Cancer (BRIA-ABC)

#3928: Feasibility and Biomarker Validation of an International Randomized Phase 3 Trial of Bria-IMT Cell Therapy in Late Stage MBC (BRIA-ABC)

Abstracts will be published online via the ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) website at 00:05 CEST on October 13 th 2025 (6:05 pm ET on October 12 th ).

Following the presentations, copies of the presentations will be posted on View Source

Phio Pharmaceuticals Announces Exercise of Warrants for Approximately $2.5 Million Gross Proceeds

On July 25, 2025 Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: PHIO), a clinical-stage siRNA biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics using its proprietary INTASYL gene silencing technology to eliminate cancer, reported the entry into definitive agreements to exercise certain outstanding warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 928,596 shares of common stock of the Company originally issued in December 2024 and January 2025, having exercise prices between $2.00 and $3.00 per share (Press release, Phio Pharmaceuticals, JUL 25, 2025, View Source [SID1234654552]). Warrants to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at the existing exercise price of $2.00 per share will be exercised at their existing exercise price of $2.00 per share and warrants to purchase 828,596 shares of common stock will be exercised at a reduced exercise price of $2.485 per share. The shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are registered pursuant to effective registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-284381). The gross proceeds to the Company from the exercise of the warrants are expected to be approximately $2.5 million, prior to deducting placement agent fees and offering expenses.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

In consideration for the immediate exercise of the warrants for cash and the payment of additional $0.125 per new unregistered warrant (additional $232,149 in the aggregate, which are included in the gross proceeds to the Company), the exercising holders will receive new unregistered warrants to purchase shares of common stock in a private placement pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"). The new warrants will be exercisable for an aggregate of up to 1,857,192 shares of common stock, at an exercise price of $2.485 per share and will be immediately exercisable upon issuance and (i) will have a term of twenty-four months with respect to new warrants to purchase up to 1,538,596 shares of common stock and (ii) will have a term of five years with respect to new warrants to purchase up to 318,596 shares of common stock, in each case, following the effective date of the resale registration statement registering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the new warrants.

The offering is expected to close on or about July 28, 2025, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

The new warrants described above were offered in a private placement pursuant to an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the 1933 Act and, along with the shares of common stock issuable upon their exercise, have not been registered under the 1933 Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the SEC or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. The securities were offered only to accredited investors. The Company has agreed to file a registration statement with the SEC covering the resale of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the new warrants.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.