Another OX40 therapy drops out of the race Psychedelic therapy updates, a novel application for bone marrow, and a hefty price tag for a priority review voucher led the news this week. Brought to you byDDN editorial team

Another OX40 therapy drops out of the race Psychedelic therapy updates, a novel application for bone marrow, and a hefty price tag for a priority review voucher led the news this week. Brought to you byDDN editorial team https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/another-ox40-therapy-drops-out-of-the-race-17658 As part of their Q3 financial results, AbCellera announced they do not plan to continue developing their investigational antibody drug blocking the OX40 receptor for atopic dermatitis and other autoimmune conditions. This news came despite meeting all endpoints in the Phase 1 trial. The announcement follows similar decisions from companies developing OX40 inhibitor drugs for skin conditions, with Kyowa Kirin and Amgen announcing their decision to discontinue their anti-OX40 monoclonal antibody in March, and Sanofi who announced in July that they decided not to submit their monoclonal antibody for global regulatory reviews. Both times, the pharma companies cited safety concerns in their statements. OX40 drugs have also seen major setbacks in treating cancer, where the therapies are being used not as OX40 blockers but instead as OX40 activators to stimulate the immune system to attack tumors. This pursuit saw early high-profile drops from AstraZeneca, GSK, Genentech, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Yet, Inhibrx Biosciences designed a second-generation version and recently reported the first positive Phase 2 results when given alongside Keytruda in head and neck cancer, currently acting as the last remaining hope for the drug modality. – Allison Whitten