BeiGene welcomes the return of the immunotherapy’s rights as an opportunity to make it the backbone of its solid tumors strategy. But Novartis cedes an opportunity to gain a competitor to established cancer immunotherapies from Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published two studies this week on a new approach that could improve treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer. The preclinical studies showed that combining immunotherapy with a KRAS inhibitor can lead to long-lasting tumor elimination.

Novartis and BeiGene ended their partnership on a cancer immunotherapy for a target called TIGIT. Though BeiGene describes the termination as mutual, it comes before Novartis would need to pump more money into the alliance even as questions linger about TIGIT as a cancer target.

BioNTech and OncoC4 reported Phase 1/2 data in non-small cell lung cancer for an immunotherapy called gotistobart. Earlier this year, the German company inked a deal to share in the development of the drug in various types of solid tumors.

Regulatory approval of Incyte’s cancer immunotherapy, Zynyz, comes two years after the FDA rejected an application seeking approval in a rare type of anal cancer. The decision makes the new Incyte drug the third approved treatment for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

BioNTech is expanding its cancer immunotherapy scope by partnering with OncoC4 on clinical testing of its lead drug. The antibody was designed to offer a safety edge over other CTLA-4-blocking drugs it’s on track for a Phase 3 test in non-small cell lung cancer.

Elicio Therapeutics dipped its toe in the IPO waters but decided to go public by merging with publicly traded Angion Biomedica. Clinical-stage Elicio is developing immunotherapies, including cancer vaccines, that work by targeting immune cells located in the lymph nodes.

Sanofi did not see the efficacy it wanted in mid-stage tests of a cytokine therapy from its $2.5 billion acquisition of Synthorx. While the pharmaceutical giant isn’t giving up on the drug, it said it will restart the molecule in a new Phase 1/2 program, a setback that will lead to a €1.6 billion financial writedown.

Surge Therapeutics’ hydrogel is engineered to deliver a cancer immunotherapy. Rather than replace surgery, CEO Michael Goldberg says the hydrogel could supplement this standard of care for solid tumors. The startup’s Series A financing will support the technology’s first test in humans.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are key to 3T Biosciences’ approach to identifying novel drug targets and engineering better, safer cancer immunotherapies. The Stanford spinout is now out of stealth with a $40 million Series A financing and a plan to reach the clinic within two years.

GSK is partnering with Mersana Therapeutics on the development of an antibody-drug conjugate that is approaching Phase 1 testing. Unlike other ADCs that deliver a toxic drug payload, the Mersana drug is designed to activate the innate immune system to fight tumor cells.

Ipsen has been an active dealmaker lately, and it just struck another one that takes the pharmaceutical company into a new area of drug research. The Paris-based company is collaborating with Marengo Therapeutics on the development of two drugs that selectively activate T cells to fight cancer.

Kernal Biologics has technology that enables the delivery of messenger RNA therapies to a wider range of destinations in the body. The Series A financing comes as the startup works to advance its lead immuno-oncology program toward its first clinical test.

ImCheck Therapeutics aims to broaden the reach of cancer immunotherapy with antibody drugs that activate a rare but powerful type of immune cell called gamma delta T cells. The biotech has unveiled €96 million to advance its pipeline, including a lead candidate in development for both liquid and solid tumors.

A small Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center study found that all rectal cancer patients treated with GSK drug Jemperli showed a complete response at six months—there were no detectable signs of the cancer. These early data presented at ASCO suggest that rectal cancer with a particular genetic signature might be treatable with this immunotherapy in lieu of the standard regimen of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has big plans for cancer immunotherapy Libtayo and it believes it can better execute on them if it has full control of the drug, currently partnered with Sanofi. Regeneron struck a deal to pay Sanofi $900 million, plus another $200 million in milestones, to secure full global rights to the asset.

Roche reported that its drug tiragolumab failed to achieve one of two main goals of a Phase 3 study in non-small cell lung cancer. The antibody is designed to block TIGIT, a checkpoint protein that has been a hot target for pharmaceutical companies looking for a way to broaden the reach of cancer immunotherapy.

Biotech startup Pheast Therapeutics is out of stealth taking a tack similar to that of cancer immunotherapy company Forty Seven, also a spinout from the Stanford University lab of Irving Weissman. While both companies get immune cells to eat tumors, Pheast’s technology has the potential to take the approach to a broader range of cancer types including those that have historically resisted immunotherapy.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is paying $250 million cash to acquire Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotech developing drugs that activate the innate immune system. The biotech’s lead drug candidate is currently in pivotal testing in melanoma.

An FDA safety review has cleared Gilead Sciences to resume five clinical trials that were placed under a partial hold in January. The experimental Gilead drug, magrolimab, is part of a class of cancer immunotherapies that address a hot target for the field.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals is licensing rights to a Werewolf Therapeutics cytokine therapy that’s on track to reach clinical testing next year. The deal gives Jazz a drug candidate that expands the company’s scope to immuno-oncology.

Affini-T Therapeutics is developing new cell therapies for cancer that could overcome limitations of the first generation of cell therapies. The initial genomic cancer targets of the startup are mutations of KRAS and p53, both of which have proven difficult to drug.

Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdualag has been approved by the FDA, a first for a drug that goes after a new cancer target called LAG-3. The drug is approved for advanced melanoma as part of a combination treatment that includes the already approved BMS cancer immunotherapy Opdivo.

Bristol Myers Squibb bet more than $1.8 billion that Nektar Therapeutics’ drug could be combined with the pharma giant’s Opdivo to expand the reach of that drug to more patients. The drug combination has failed its first Phase 3 in advanced melanoma; separate studies in kidney and bladder cancers are ongoing.

The FDA placed a partial clinical hold on a Phase 1 study testing experimental Alpine Immune Sciences cancer drug davoceticept in combination with Merck cancer immunotherapy Keytruda. The partial hold does not affect a separate study testing the Alpine drug as a monotherapy.

Rondo Therapeutics is developing bispecific antibody drugs capable of treating solid tumors, which have eluded this type of cancer therapy. Led by co-founders and Teneobio veterans Shelley Force Aldred and Nathan Trinklein, the biotech startup has emerged from stealth backed by a $67 million Series A round of funding.

BioNTech is acquiring a preclinical T cell receptor program (TCR) from Medigene, as well as licenses to the biotech’s TCR technologies. The agreement helps BioNTech expand its scope in cancer immunotherapy with a new approach for addressing solid tumors.

Gilead Sciences did not disclose details about the safety concern that led to an FDA partial clinical hold on five studies evaluating its cancer drug, magrolimab. But this experimental cancer immunotherapy introduces a safety risk that’s a known problem for all drugs in this class.

The field of biotechs pursuing new interleukin-2 cancer immunotherapies is filled with companies engineering different versions of that signaling protein. Avenge Bio CEO Mike Heffernan said his startup stands apart with a cell therapy that produces human IL-2 that could offer advantages compared to engineered versions of that protein.

Novartis is partnering with BeiGene on the development of a drug that addresses TIGIT, a hot cancer immunotherapy target. The Swiss pharma giant is committing $300 million up front, and up to $700 million more upon exercising its option on BeiGene’s antibody drug.