Swedish rare-disease specialist Sobi is paying $75 million upfront for global commercial rights to Innate Pharma’s lacutamab, a first-in-class antibody targeting KIR3DL2 in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The deal gives Innate funding and a commercial partner for its next clinical step, while adding a late-stage oncology asset to Sobi’s rare-disease portfolio.
Tag Archive for: cancer
U.S. biotech company Phinomics has established its European hub at Bayer Co.Lab Berlin, bringing a research focus that could reshape how scientists understand tumor evolution and drug resistance. The focus is on extrachromosomal DNA rings.
With the separation from the biobank service business, Hamburg-based Indivumed has repositioned itself as a therapeutics biotech. Its earlier work remains the core of its medical knowledge and the source of novel targets. To advance the already pre-validated selection more quickly, the company is now looking for partners. The response has been strong, say Matthias Evers and Hartmut Juhl in conversation with European Biotechnology Magazine.
Immatics has published a series of updates on its PRAME pipeline, using the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to share data on its lead candidate and next-generation program.
The Copenhagen-based cancer immunotherapy company IO Biotech has come to an abrupt end, marking one of the more sobering recent failures in Europe’s mid-cap biotech segment. Founded in 2019, the company had sought to position itself at the forefront of therapeutic cancer vaccines, but a decisive clinical and regulatory setback ultimately proved insurmountable.
Novartis is pressing ahead with its aggressive expansion strategy in oncology, striking again: the Basel-based group is acquiring a novel PI3Kalpha inhibitor from Synnovation Therapeutics for up to USD 3 billion.
VALANX Biotech has raised €3 million in a Series A funding round to advance an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting LIV-1 for triple-negative breast cancer. The developments are currently still at the preclinical stage.
The Mainz-based biotech company BioNTech is facing a historic leadership change as the minds behind the COVID-19 vaccine prepare for a fresh start. Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci plan to focus entirely on mRNA platform technology and will launch a spin-off at the end of the year.
A study recently published in Nature on the use of mRNA “vaccines” targeting cancer neoantigens in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has generated considerable attention in scientific circles. However, with only 14 patients treated in this Phase I trial, it is far too early to declare a breakthrough. Still, the highly encouraging data breathe new life into a cancer vaccine approach that in recent years had fallen behind antibodies, ADCs and checkpoint inhibitors.
At a strategy retreat of the city’s political leadership, the governing parties of the City of Vienna agreed to build a new Life Science Center for Vienna – with the new AI institute AITHYRA as its anchor tenant. To this end, funding of €170 million has been approved, allowing planning to begin.


Knowbio with Sweden.se
Phinomics

EyEM, Freepik.com
adobe stock photos - Michael Derrer Fuchs
Valanx Biotech
Marcus Krauss - stock.adobe.com
BioNTech SE
ABA Austria