The BioPharm Brief: Setbacks, Science, and Scale

Welcome to The BioPharm Brief, your daily snapshot of developments shaping the biopharmaceutical industry.

A phase 3 lung cancer trial is ending early, an AI-designed cancer vaccine is entering the pipeline, and a major biosimilars collaboration is getting even bigger.

First, AstraZeneca is discontinuing the Phase 3 eVOLVE-Lung02 trial evaluating vol-rust-omig in patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The decision follows a review of the trial data and does not change the company’s plans for other ongoing volrustomig studies.

Next, Evaxion is expanding its pipeline with EVX-05, an AI-designed, off-the-shelf vaccine candidate for glioblastoma. The program adds another example of AI being used to design personalized or targeted cancer immunotherapies, while the off-the-shelf approach aims to avoid the manufacturing timelines associated with individualized treatments.

And finally, Henlius and Sandoz are expanding their biosimilars collaboration to potentially cover up to 10 monoclonal antibody and ADC assets. The initial agreement covers three products, with an option for another, and includes up to $322 million in upfront, milestone, and option payments. Henlius will lead development and manufacturing, while Sandoz will handle registration and commercialization outside China.

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Key takeaways:

• AstraZeneca is pulling the plug on a Phase 3 lung cancer study.
• Evaxion is bringing an AI-designed glioblastoma vaccine into development.
• Henlius and Sandoz are broadening their push into biosimilars.