Compass Therapeutics and AstraZeneca have both provided updates to their respective clinical therapeutic programs targeting biliary tract cancers.

Researchers 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.

The 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).

Sanofi

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.