Celltrion receives U.S. FDA approval for STOBOCLO® (denosumab-bmwo) and OSENVELT® (denosumab-bmwo) biosimilars referencing PROLIA® and XGEVA®

On March 3, 2025 Celltrion reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved STOBOCLO (CT-P41, denosumab-bmwo) and OSENVELT (CT-P41, denosumab-bmwo), biosimilars referencing PROLIA (denosumab) and XGEVA (denosumab) respectively for all indications of reference products (Press release, Celltrion, MAR 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234650848]).

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"The approval of STOBOCLO and OSENVELT is another step forward in our efforts to deliver cost-effective and high-quality treatments that address critical unmet needs in osteoporosis-related fracture as well as cancer-related skeletal events," said Thomas Nusbickel, Chief Commercial Officer at Celltrion USA. "Patients deserve therapeutic options that have the potential to make real impacts on their care and their lives. We are committed to continuous innovation to meet these goals leveraging our experience and successful track record with biosimilar and novel biologics."

The FDA approval is based on robust clinical evidence, including results from Phase III clinical trials in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis designed to evaluate the efficacy, pharmacodynamics (PD), pharmacokinetics (PK), safety and immunogenicity of CT-P41 to reference denosumab. Study results demonstrated that CT-P41 had equivalent efficacy and PD to reference denosumab with similar PK and comparable safety and immunogenicity profiles.

"Denosumab is used to improve or protect bone health in patients with osteoporosis or those undergoing various cancer treatments and as a therapy for a lifetime for postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) patients," said Prof. Jean-Yves Reginster, Professor of Medicine, Protein Research Chair, Biochemistry Dept, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Director WHO Collaborating Centre for Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Health and Aging, Liège, Belgium. "Biosimilars have expanded into new therapeutic areas such as immunology, oncology and ophthalmology as they continue to offer significant cost-saving potential while expanding patient access. Having a denosumab product with a clinically proven track record in quality and safety is a valuable addition for my patients."

In accordance with a settlement agreement with Amgen Inc., STOBOCLO and OSENVELT are expected to be available in the U.S. in June 2025.

About STOBOCLO (denosumab-bmwo)

STOBOCLO (denosumab-bmwo) is a receptor activator of NF-κb ligand (RANKL) inhibitor referencing PROLIA (denosumab). STOBOCLO 60 mg/mL injection is approved by the FDA based on comprehensive data and clinical evidence confirming the therapeutic equivalence to PROLIA. In the U.S., STOBOCLO is approved to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, to increase bone mass in men with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, to treat glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in men and women at high risk for fracture, to increase bone mass in men at high risk for fracture receiving androgen deprivation therapy for nonmetastatic prostate cancer, and to increase bone mass in women at high risk for fracture receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer. STOBOCLO was also approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in February 2025.

INDICATIONS

STOBOCLO (denosumab-bmwo) is a RANK ligand (RANKL) inhibitor indicated for treatment:

of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture
to increase bone mass in men with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture or in men at high risk for fracture receiving androgen deprivation therapy for nonmetastatic prostate cancer
of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in men and women at high risk for fracture
to increase bone mass in women at high risk for fracture receiving a adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

WARNING: SEVERE HYPOCALCEMIA IN PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED KIDNEY DISEASE

Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, including those on dialysis, face a higher risk of severe hypocalcemia after denosumab administration, with reported cases leading to hospitalization, life-threatening events, and fatalities.

The presence of chronic kidney disease-mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) markedly increases the risk of hypocalcemia in these patients

Before starting STOBOCLO (denosumab-bmwo) in advanced chronic kidney disease patients, assess for CKD-MBD. Treatment should be supervised by a healthcare provider experienced in diagnosing and managing CKD-MBD.

STOBOCLO is contraindicated in hypocalcemia, pregnant women, and in patients with known hypersensitivity to denosumab.

Severe Hypocalcemia: Ensure adequate calcium and vitamin D; monitor for severe hypocalcemia.

Drug Products with Same Active Ingredient: Do not use with other denosumab products.

Hypersensitivity: If an anaphylactic or other clinically significant allergic reaction occurs, initiate appropriate therapy and discontinue further use of STOBOCLO.

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ): ONJ can occur in patients on STOBOCLO. Conduct oral exams before treatment; maintain oral hygiene; consider discontinuation of STOBOCLO if ONJ develops.

Atypical Subtrochanteric and Diaphyseal Femoral Fractures: Monitor for thigh, hip, or groin pain; evaluate for fractures. Interruption of STOBOCLO therapy should be considered, pending a benefit-risk assessment, on an individual basis.

Multiple Vertebral Fractures (MVF) Following Discontinuation of Treatment: Increased risk post-discontinuation of denosumab; transition to alternative therapy if discontinuing STOBOCLO.

Serious Infections: Higher risk in denosumab users; assess benefit-risk profile, especially in immunocompromised patients. Assess the benefit-risk profile before starting STOBOCLO and reconsider its use if serious infections develop.

Dermatologic Adverse Reactions: Consider discontinuing STOBOCLO if severe dermatitis, eczema, or rashes occur.

Musculoskeletal Pain: Consider discontinuation of STOBOCLO if severe pain develops.

Bone Turnover Suppression: In clinical trials in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, denosumab significantly suppressed bone remodelling; patients should be monitored for these outcomes.

Hypercalcemia in Pediatrics Patients with Osteogenesis Imperfecta: Not for pediatric use; hypercalcemia reported in patients osteogenesis imperfecta treated with denosumab products.

Most common Adverse Reactions:

In (>5%) of patients with: Postmenopausal osteoporosis were back pain, pain in extremity, hypercholesterolemia, musculoskeletal pain, and cystitis. Pancreatitis has been reported in clinical trials. Male osteoporosis were back pain, arthralgia, and nasopharyngitis.
Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (> 3%) were back pain, hypertension, bronchitis, and headache.
Bone loss due to hormone ablation for cancer (≥ 10%) were arthralgia and back pain. Pain in extremity and musculoskeletal pain have also been reported in clinical trials.
For more information, see Full Prescribing Information.

About OSENVELT (denosumab-bmwo)

OSENVELT (denosumab-bmwo) is a receptor activator of NF-κb ligand (RANKL) inhibitor referencing XGEVA (denosumab). OSENVELT 120 mg/1.7 mL (70 mg/mL) injection is approved by the FDA based on a robust clinical trial and comprehensive data confirming the therapeutic equivalence to XGEVA. In the U.S., OSENVELT is indicated to prevent skeletal-related events in patients with multiple myeloma and in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors, to treat adults and skeletally mature adolescents with giant cell tumor of bone that is unresectable or where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and to treat hypercalcemia of malignancy refractory to bisphosphonate therapy. OSENVELT was also approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in February 2025.

INDICATION

OSENVELT (denosumab-bmwo) is indicated for:

Prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with multiple myeloma and in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors.
Treatment of adults and skeletally mature adolescents with giant cell tumor of bone that is unresectable or where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity.
Treatment of hypercalcemia of malignancy refractory to bisphosphonate therapy.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Contraindications: Patients with hypocalcemia or with known clinically significant hypersensitivity to denosumab products.

Drug Products with Same Active Ingredient. Patients receiving OSENVELT should not receive other denosumab products concomitantly.

Hypersensitivity. If an anaphylactic or other clinically significant allergic reaction occurs, initiate appropriate therapy and discontinue further use of OSENVELT.

Hypocalcemia. Severe hypocalcemia can occur, and fatal cases have been reported. Monitor calcium levels and calcium and vitamin D intake.

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ): ONJ can occur in patients on OSENVELT. Conduct oral exams and appropriate preventive dentistry before and during treatment; maintain oral hygiene and avoid invasive dental procedures; consider discontinuation of OSENVELT if ONJ develops.

Atypical Subtrochanteric and Diaphyseal Femoral Fractures: Monitor for thigh, hip, or groin pain; evaluate for fractures. Interruption of OSENVELT therapy should be considered, pending a benefit-risk assessment, on an individual basis.

Hypercalcemia Following Treatment Discontinuation in Patients with Giant Cell Tumor of Bone and in Patients with Growing Skeletons. Clinically significant hypercalcemia, potentially requiring hospitalization, can occur within a year after stopping denosumab in patients with giant cell tumor of bone or growing skeletons; monitor serum calcium and manage calcium and vitamin D needs post-discontinuation.

Multiple Vertebral Fractures (MVF) Following Treatment Discontinuation. Increased risk post-discontinuation of denosumab; evaluate for risk for vertebral fractures after discontinuing OSENVELT.

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity. Denosumab may cause fetal harm; verify pregnancy status before starting OSENVELT and advise effective contraception during treatment and for 5 months after the last dose.

Most common Adverse Reactions:

Bone Metastasis from Solid Tumors (≥ 25%) were fatigue/asthenia, hypophosphatemia, and nausea.
In patients (≥ 10%) with: Multiple Myeloma were diarrhea, nausea, anemia, back pain, thrombocytopenia, peripheral edema, hypocalcemia, upper respiratory tract infection, rash, and headache; Giant Cell Tumor of Bone were arthralgia, headache, nausea, back pain, fatigue, and pain in extremity.
Hypercalcemia of Malignancy (> 20%) were nausea, dyspnea, decreased appetite, headache, peripheral edema, vomiting, anemia, constipation, and diarrhea.

Immunocore to present at upcoming investor conferences

On March 3, 2025 Immunocore Holdings plc (Nasdaq: IMCR) ("Immunocore" or the "Company"), a commercial-stage biotechnology company pioneering and delivering transformative immunomodulating medicines to radically improve outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases, reported that management will participate in the following investor conferences in March (Press release, Immunocore, MAR 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234650829]).

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TD Cowen 45th Annual Healthcare Conference
Presentation: Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 3:10 p.m. EST

Barclays 27th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
Fireside Chat: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. EST

Jefferies Biotech on the Beach Summit
1×1 and small group meetings: Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Where relevant, the presentations will be webcast live and can be accessed by visiting ‘Events & Presentations’, under ‘Events’, via the ‘Investors’ section of Immunocore’s website at www.immunocore.com. Following the event, a replay of the presentations will be made available for a limited time.

Myosin Therapeutics Closes Second Seed Round to Advance Clinical Trials for Innovative Cancer and Neuroscience Therapies

On March 3, 2025 Myosin Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel therapies for cancer and neurological disorders, reported it has closed its second seed funding round, raising over $3 million to supplement significant investment from the National Institutes of Health (Press release, Myosin Therapeutics, MAR 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234650849]).

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Myosin Therapeutics, Inc. (the "Company") is advancing its lead compound, MT-125, to treat glioblastoma, the most aggressive brain cancer with an average survival time of only 8 months. MT-125 targets a molecular nanomotor, blocking both tumor growth and invasion. The FDA granted orphan drug designation to MT-125 for malignant gliomas, underscoring its potential to improve outcomes for patients with this devastating disease.

The company is also progressing MT-110 for the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder (MUD), Millions worldwide suffer from MUD, yet no FDA-approved treatments currently exist. The latest funding, combined with NIH support, will allow MT-110 to enter Phase 1 clinical trials.

"This funding is pivotal as it will allow us to initiate multiple clinical trials this year, including a Phase 1b trial for MT-125 in glioblastoma patients," said Dr. Courtney Miller, co-founder and CEO of Myosin Therapeutics. "We are deeply grateful to our investors for their support as we work to bring innovative therapies to patients with cancer and substance use disorders."

The seed funding round was led by repeat investors, DeepWork Capital, Florida Opportunity Fund, and Mint12 Pharma, along with Dynagrow Capital, the private investment management affiliate of Fred Hassan. Also participating in the round were Mayo Clinic Ventures and The Sontag Innovation Fund, which is focused on accelerating solutions to change the standard of care in brain cancer. Dave Adams, co-Founder of Mint12 Pharma, stated, "Myosin Therapeutics exemplifies a well-run organization, consistently achieving key milestones to advance MT-125 and MT-110. Their dedication to innovative treatments for devastating conditions is inspiring, and we are confident in their ability to deliver meaningful solutions to patients."

IN8bio Announces Advanced Gamma-Delta (??) T cell Engager (TCE) Platform for Oncology and Autoimmune Diseases

On March 3, 2025 IN8bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: INAB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gamma-delta (γδ) T cell therapies, reported INB-600, its potentially breakthrough next generation γδ T cell-based TCE platform. It is designed to address one of the biggest shortcomings of current existing γδ TCEs – insufficient numbers of γδ T cell effector cells to drive real clinical impact (Press release, In8bio, MAR 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234650830]). This groundbreaking platform leverages γδ T cells’ unique properties targeting applications in both oncology and autoimmune indications with potentially greater safety and tolerability than current CAR-T and TCE approaches.

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The platform’s first candidate, INB-619, targets CD19, a key marker broadly found on B cells, which play a central role in leukemias, lymphomas, and autoimmune diseases. In preclinical models, INB-619 demonstrated:

Rapid and sustained B-cell depletion – target cells were eradicated as γδ T cells continued expanding up to 450-fold with continued proliferation until the target cells were undetectable.
Simultaneous expansion and activation of both major γδ T cell subsets (Vδ1+ and Vδ2+) leverages both the rapid antigen presenting properties of Vδ2+ T cells and the longer-term resistance against exhaustion and tissue residence properties of Vδ1+ T cells, potentially resulting in deeper B cell depletion.
Lower cytokine (IL-6) secretion, potentially reducing the risk of dangerous side effects such as CRS and ICANs, two of the most severe side effects limiting CAR-T and traditional CD3-TCE adoption in autoimmune indications.
William Ho, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of IN8bio, commented, "As the industry rapidly chased immunology and inflammation (I&I) indications, we saw a major unmet need for a therapy that provides deep B cell depletion, ease of delivery with no required lymphodepletion, and improved overall safety and tolerability. Most γδ TCEs have failed because they can’t engage the limited number of effector cells to eliminate their targets. Our INB-600 platform is working to change the equation by not only targeting B cells, but also by actively expanding the γδ T cell immune army needed for deep, lasting B cell depletion. By leveraging our expertise in γδ T cell biology, we have worked to develop a breakthrough technology that combines exceptional preclinical potency, while broadly expanding immune surveillance and potentially avoiding the dangerous side effects of existing approaches. We believe this platform could have significant applications across oncology as well as autoimmune diseases."

TCEs are a class of bispecific antibody therapies that work by binding both a target cell and a T cell, bringing them into close proximity so the T cell can efficiently attack and destroy its target. Traditional TCEs, such as those targeting CD3 – have demonstrated strong target killing abilities but often have severe limitations, including the potential to drive T cells to exhaustion and induce severe toxicities such as CRS and ICANs. γδ T cells naturally secrete lower levels of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, which suggests substantially less risk of CRS, which may translate to improved safety and tolerability in future clinical applications. Notably, to date, IN8bio has not observed any CRS or neurotoxicities in any of its on-going γδ T cell clinical programs.

IN8bio plans to evaluate INB-619 in preclinical studies and seek potential partners to support future IND-enabling trials. We remain focused on to pushing the boundaries of next generation γδ cell-based immunotherapies as it pursues its mission of Cancer Zero – a future where cancer is fully eliminated.

Webcast details
TD Cowen 45th Annual Health Care Conference
Date/Time: Monday, March 3, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Webcast link: https://wsw.com/webcast/cowen177/inab/1991262

A live webcast and replay will also be available under "Events and Presentations" in the News & Presentations section of the IN8bio website at View Source

Callio Therapeutics Launches with US$187 Million Series A to Advance Multi-Payload Antibody-Drug Conjugate Platform Through Clinical Proof-of-Concept

On March 3, 2025 Callio Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on realizing the promise of multi-payload antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to improve cancer therapy, reported its launch with the closing of a $187.0 million Series A financing round (Press release, Callio Therapeutics, MAR 3, 2025, View Source [SID1234650850]). This financing was led by Frazier Life Sciences with significant participation from Jeito Capital alongside other life sciences investors, including Novo Holdings A/S, Omega Funds, ClavystBio, Platanus, Norwest, Pureos Bioventures, SEEDS Capital and EDBI. The newly formed company, with headquarters in Seattle and Singapore, intends to use the proceeds from the Series A financing to achieve clinical proof-of-concept for its HER2-targeted dual-payload ADC and a second undisclosed ADC program.

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In conjunction with the financing, Callio Therapeutics has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Hummingbird Bioscience for its multi-payload ADC platform in oncology, and associated intellectual property and pipeline assets, in exchange for equity, potential milestone payments and royalties.

"We are delighted to be launching Callio Therapeutics with the support of Frazier Life Sciences and this syndicate of investors. Multi-payload ADCs have the potential to enable the targeted delivery of rational drug combinations to cancer cells, and may provide significantly enhanced efficacy," said Piers Ingram, PhD, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Callio Therapeutics. "This new generation of ADC therapies may meaningfully improve outcomes for patients."

Leadership Team

The founding Callio Therapeutics management team comprises individuals with extensive experience from leading biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies including ProfoundBio, Silverback Therapeutics, SeaGen, Medarex, Hummingbird Bioscience and Genentech:

Piers Ingram, PhD, Chief Executive Officer
Jerome Boyd-Kirkup, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer
Naomi Hunder, MD, Chief Medical Officer
Angèle Maki, PhD, Chief Business Officer
"The multi-payload ADCs being developed at Callio Therapeutics have the potential to address large unmet medical needs by overcoming many of the limitations of existing ADCs," said Adam Simpson, Executive Board Chair of Callio Therapeutics and Venture Partner at Frazier Life Sciences. "With the expertise of the Callio Therapeutics team, together with access to the innovative multi-payload ADC technology, we believe that Callio Therapeutics will be the first company to show the clinical benefit of this exciting new multi-payload ADC approach and is well positioned to transform cancer therapy."