Plus, news about Boundless Bio, Pelage, Actuate Therapeutics and Mersana Therapeutics:
Kyverna Therapeutics touts early safety of CAR-T therapy: The biotech said the first 36 patients with autoimmune disease who were treated with KYV-101 had no instances of severe immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) or grade 3 or higher cytokine release syndrome. The safety of CAR-Ts is under scrutiny after Cabaletta Bio said last week that grade 4 ICANS occurred in a lupus patient treated with its therapy. — Ayisha Sharma
Evotec’s partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb pays off: The company pulled in $75 million worth of performance-based and program-based payments as part of a deal signed in 2018. According to the agreement, Bristol Myers and Evotec are developing molecular glue degraders using Evotec’s multi-omics screening and analytics capabilities with Bristol Myers’ cereblon E3 ligase modulators. — Katherine Lewin
Boundless Bio shrinks workforce: Five months after its $100 million IPO, the cancer drug developer said it will “modestly reduce” its headcount following slow trial enrollment. It will lay off about 15 employees, a spokesperson told Endpoints News. It had 72 employees as of May 6, according to an SEC filing. — Kyle LaHucik
Pelage adds $14M to Series A: GV doubled down on the hair loss biotech with a Series A-1 after leading the original $16.75 million round earlier this year. The Los Angeles biotech also said it dosed the first patients in a Phase 2 study in androgenetic alopecia. AbbVie’s Allergan previously had the option to buy the biotech, but the companies terminated the option prior to clinical testing. — Kyle LaHucik
Cancer biotech prices $22M IPO: Actuate Therapeutics began trading on the Nasdaq as $ACTU on Tuesday. Actuate had initially targeted a $45 million public debut, but downsized those plans over the summer. It sold 2.8 million shares at $8 apiece in the IPO after years of struggling to raise money on the private market. — Kyle LaHucik
Mersana Therapeutics earns $8M development milestone from J&J collab: The partnership, from 2022, focuses on the discovery of Dolasynthen antibody-drug conjugates for up to three targets. J&J is handing over the $8 million in the third quarter of this year, according to Mersana’s second-quarter financial report. — Katherine Lewin