AUTO6-NG

+Plus, news about Autolus, MacroGenics and BlissBio: Akeso bispecific looks promising in cervical cancer: The China-based biotech said Friday that all patients in a Phase 3 cervical cancer trial responded to treatment with a bispecific antibody called cadonilimab. The addition of the PD-1xCTLA-4 bispecific on top of chemoradiotherapy in the COMPASSION-18 study generated complete and partial response rates of 84.8% and 15.2%, respectively. Median PFS was not reached, but the 12-month PFS rate was 74.9%. Cadonilimab is already approved in China for patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer who have not responded to platinum-based chemotherapy. — Elizabeth Cairns Pulmatrix to divest assets ahead of merger: The biotech will seek buyers for three of its pipeline programs as well as its iSPERSE platform technology. Pulmatrix in November agreed to a reverse merger with Cullgen, which was expected to close this month but is now set to close in the first half of 2025. — Max Gelman BioNTech’s option for Autolus CAR-T fizzles out: The German biotech allowed its option to lapse for AUTO1/22, a CAR-T cell therapy in Phase 1 trials for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Back in February 2024 , BioNTech paid $50 million in cash and bought $200 million of Autolus’ shares in a deal that granted it access to AUTO1/22. The deal also covered AUTO6NG, a programmed T-cell therapy in early trials in neuroblastoma, and Aucatzyl, which has since been approved for an aggressive form of leukemia. BioNTech declined to exercise its time-limited option to AUTO1/22 because of a pipeline prioritization , and it lapsed Feb. 8. — Elizabeth Cairns MacroGenics shelves prostate cancer ADC: The company had to stop dosing prostate cancer patients in a Phase 2 trial of its antibody-drug conjugate, called vobramitamab duocarmazine, in July . On Thursday , it said it would shut down all development and seek a partner for the product, which targets the tumor antigen B7-H3 and delivers a cytotoxic duocarmycin payload. MacroGenics said the results of the trial do not justify any more investment; in the patients treated before dosing was halted, mature median radiographic progression-free survival was 9.5 months with the lower dose and 10 months with the higher. — Elizabeth Cairns BlissBio to proceed with ADC on its own: Eisai had signed an option deal in 2023 to advance a BlissBio program called BB-1701, but last month said in its third-quarter earnings that it would no longer do so. Instead, BlissBio will develop BB-1701 on its own. Eisai had been partnered with liquid biopsy company Angle on development plans, and now Angle is planning to work with BlissBio. — Max Gelman