As Astellas pivots through several candidates in an attempt to create its next blockbuster, a decision to terminate its only prospect in the core mitochondrial R&D area leaves very few other competitors in the market.

The ranks of B7-H3-targeting antibody-drug conjugates under development in China have seen their first dropout, although elsewhere there are two FGFR2b-directed ADCs with first-in-class potential on the horizon. Meanwhile, there have been other discontinuations of KRAS G12C inhibitors and anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapies in the country, while new players have surfaced in the areas of mRNA cancer vaccines and amyloid-beta-targeting antibodies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Plus transactions involving Nissan Chemical/Sanwa Kagaku, Memel/Therabest, Chugai/Alnylam, Takeda/Kumquat, Nxera/Handok, 3SBio/CStone and deals in brief.

As sponsors explore development in autoimmune and infectious diseases, plus a range of hematologic and solid tumors, manufacturing processes can be centralized or decentralized, but Marks says the FDA is ‘neutral’ on that decision.