Trastuzumab

An antibody-drug conjugate biotech led by the former Celgene CEO has collected $96 million to run a registrational trial in the CLDN6 field. TORL BioTherapeutics’ Series C is a far cry from its Series B and B-2 rounds — each at $158 million — that were disclosed in 2023 and 2024. The Los Angeles biotech said Tuesday it has now raised more than $450 million since its founding in 2019. Mark Alles , who constructed one of the largest pharma acquisitions in history by selling Celgene to Bristol Myers Squibb for $74 billion in 2019, is CEO and chair of TORL. The drug developer did not disclose the investors in the round. Its investors in prior rounds included prominent names such as Deep Track Capital, RA Capital, Perceptive Advisors, Avidity Partners, Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Bristol Myers Squibb. In the announcement, the company said new unnamed investors joined the round. The biotech is developing a pipeline of biologics-based drugs derived from the UCLA labs of Dennis Slamon, whose research lead to the development of Roche’s Herceptin, Pfizer’s Ibrance and Novartis’ Kisqali. “TORL-1-23 is the first of multiple high potential therapeutics to emerge from this unique academic-industry collaboration to redefine drug development from bench to bedside,” Slamon said in the release. Once the splashiest approach in cancer R&D, ADCs remain popular but no longer capture the spotlight as much as they did in 2023, when there was a series of ADC deals, including Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of Seagen. Investors are increasingly interested in other approaches like T cell engagers. At the top of TORL’s pipeline is an ADC that’s currently in Phase 2 and being considered for accelerated approval. TORL-1-23 is being tested for Claudin 6-positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The company expects to have pivotal data from the study in 2027, and a confirmatory Phase 3 is slated to begin next year. In addition to those trials, TORL said the funding will also go toward “registration-enabling Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies,” Phase 1 trials and IND work for other “high-value targets” across solid tumors and blood cancers. The startup appears to have cut back its work on some clinical-stage ADCs. TORL no longer lists a CLDN18.2 program called TORL-2-307 or a CDH17-directed asset called TORL-3-600 on its pipeline, and neither were mentioned in Tuesday’s update. The studies of those two ADCs are still listed as “recruiting” on the federal trials database, but the entries have not been updated since October and April .

Company will share data demonstrating CD47 overexpression as key predictive biomarker for response with the Company’s lead candidate, evorpacept, in HER2+ gastric cancer SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ALX Oncology Holdings Inc., ("ALX Oncology" or "the Company") (Nasdaq: ALXO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of novel therapies designed to treat cancer and extend patients’ lives, today announced updated data from its Phase 2 ASPEN-06 (NCT05002127) trial will be presented during a poster session at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 40th Annual Meeting taking place November 5–9, 2025, in National Harbor, Maryland. The Phase 2 trial evaluated evorpacept, the Company’s lead therapeutic candidate, in combination with HERCEPTIN® (trastuzumab), CYRAMZA® (ramucirumab) and paclitaxel, for patients with previously treated HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer (GC) and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer. Details for the poster presentation at SITC 2025 are as follows: Title: CD47 expression as a predictive biomarker for evorpacept in HER2-positive gastric/gastroesophageal cancer from the Phase 2 randomized ASPEN-06 trial First Author: Zev A. Wainberg, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of GI Oncology Program, University of California, Los Angeles Abstract: 496 Date and Time: Saturday, November 8, 2025, 10:00 a.m. – 6:35 p.m. ET Location: Poster Hall (Exhibit Halls AB) About ASPEN-06 ASPEN-06 is a randomized Phase 2 (open-label)/3 (blinded), international, multi-center study, evaluating evorpacept in combination with HERCEPTIN® (trastuzumab), CYRAMZA® (ramucirumab) and paclitaxel, for patients with metastatic second- or third-line HER2 overexpressing gastric/GEJ adenocarcinoma that has progressed on or after prior HER2-directed therapy and fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy and are suitable for chemotherapy. One hundred twenty-seven adult patients were enrolled in the Phase 2 portion of the study. About ALX Oncology ALX Oncology (Nasdaq: ALXO) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of novel therapies designed to treat cancer and extend patients’ lives. ALX Oncology’s lead therapeutic candidate, evorpacept, has demonstrated potential to serve as a cornerstone therapy upon which the future of immuno-oncology can be built. Evorpacept is currently being evaluated across multiple ongoing clinical trials in a wide range of cancer indications. ALX Oncology’s second pipeline candidate, ALX2004, is a novel EGFR-targeted antibody-drug conjugate with a differentiated mechanism of action and entered the clinic in a Phase 1 trial in August 2025. More information is available at www.alxoncology.com and on LinkedIn @ALX Oncology. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding future results of operations and financial position, business strategy, product candidates, planned preclinical studies and clinical trials, results of clinical trials, research and development costs, regulatory approvals, timing and likelihood of success, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements regarding industry trends. Such forward-looking statements are based on ALX Oncology’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to it on the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause ALX Oncology’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These and other risks are described more fully in ALX Oncology’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including ALX Oncology’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents ALX Oncology files with the SEC from time to time. Except to the extent required by law, ALX Oncology undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made. Investor Relations Contact: Elhan Webb, CFA, IR Consultant ewebb@alxoncology.com Media Contact: Audra Friis, Sam Brown Healthcare Communications audrafriis@sambrown.com (917) 519-9577