Compass Therapeutics and AstraZeneca have both provided updates to their respective clinical therapeutic programs targeting biliary tract cancers.
Research Roundup: Vitamin D Deficiency and Severe COVID-19
Bispecific Antibody, Bleeding Disorders, Brain, COVID-19 Studies, COVID-19 Vaccinations, Delta Variant (B.1.617.2; India), Eating, Infants, Israel, Massachusetts General Hospital, Metastatic cancers, National Institutes of Health, Omicron (B.1.1.529) (South Africa), Pregnancies, Proteins, R&D, Severe Covid-19, University of Arizona Health Sciences, Vitamin DResearchers at Bar-Ilan University and the Galilee Medical Center identified an association between vitamin D deficiency and severity and mortality of COVID-19.
Biogen is backing Genentech on developing a bispecific antibody aimed at B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company exercised an option to participate in Roche Group member Genentech’s development of mosunetuzumab under a long-standing collaboration for antibodies targeting CD20.
FDA Approves Genentech’s Vabysmo, the First Bispecific Antibody for the Eye, to Treat Two Leading Causes of Vision Loss
Approvals, Bispecific Antibody, Blood Vessels, Diabetic Macular Edema, FDA/Regulatory, Genentech, Ophthalmics, Roche, Therapeutics, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGF-A) Protein, Vision Loss, Wet Age-Related Macular DegenerationThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Genentech’s Vabysmo (faricimab-svoa) for the treatment of wet, or neovascular, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME).
South Korean biotechnology firm ABL Biotechnologies signed a global licensing and exclusive collaboration agreement with Sanofi to develop and commercialize a new therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease.
Bethesda, Md.-based Revelar Biotherapeutics and Twist Bioscience from South San Francisco announced their bispecific antibody, RBT-0813, neutralizes both the Omicron and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 in studies with the live virus.
Amgen is snapping up privately held Teneobio and the company’s class of biologics dubbed Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies in a deal that could total $2.5 billion.
Genentech’s Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) showed no new safety signals and continued to deliver consistent bleeding control in the final analysis of a long-term, late-stage hemophilia A study.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval of Janssen’s Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Bristol Myers Squibb inked a licensing deal for Agenus’ proprietary bispecific antibody program, AGEN1777, and a second undisclosed target. AGEN1777 is an Fc-enhancement antibody Agenus is developing to target major inhibitory receptors found on T and NK cells that seem to improve anti-tumor activity.