Nykode’s Regeneron deal runs into trouble

Norway’s Nykode Therapeutics last year lost Roche as a partner, and now a collaboration with Regeneron appears to be going the same way. In its second-quarter report, Nykode said it was in “discussions” with Regeneron over the future of projects arising from a 2021 deal covering cancer and infectious disease vaccines; a spokesperson declined to give more details, although the preclinical assets are no longer included in Nykode’s forecasts. Last November Roche walked away from Nykode’s neoantigen candidate VB10.NEO; that asset is now on the back burner as the company aims to attract a new partner – which will be extra-tough given problems for this field, including Roche recently abandoning a T-cell receptor project from Adaptive Biotechnologies. Nykode’s realistic hopes rest on the DNA-based, HPV16-encoding asset VB10.16, now dubbed abipapogene suvaplasmid, with the main focus an upcoming phase 2 trial, Abili-T, in first-line head and neck cancer. This will test abi-suva plus Keytruda, versus Keytruda alone, in around 100 patients with HPV16 and PD-L1-positive disease. A first interim analysis is expected in 2027. Nykode reckons its “streamlining” could help preserve cash until 2029, although if a pending tax case goes against it the group will need more money in 2028.

Nykode’s cancer pipeline

Source: OncologyPipeline & company statements.