As described below, Adocia, Cue Biopharma, and Eucure Biopharma each recently announced clinical updates with regards to their biologic product candidates or combination therapies.

Adocia, a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in France, reported positive results from a clinical pharmacology study using its proprietary BioChaperone® (BC) ultra-rapid prandial insulin formulation.  The study compared two BC Lispro formulations employing insulin lispro from two different sources, an insulin lispro biosimilar from Tonghua Dongbao (THDB) and the brand, Humalog®, from Eli Lilly.  The BC Lispro (THDB) formulation demonstrated similar pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties to the BC Lispro Humalog® formulation.

Cue Biopharma, Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced that the first patient was dosed in a Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial of CUE-101 in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab).  CUE-101 is a fusion protein biologic designed to target and activate antigen-specific T cells to fight HPV-driven cancers.  CUE-101 is being evaluated in combination with KEYTRUDA® for treatment for human papilloma virus positive recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HPV+ R/M HNSCC).

Beijing based Eucure Biopharma also announced that YH003, an investigational anti-CD40 antibody, demonstrated anti-tumor activity in subjects with advanced solid tumors when combined with Junshi Biosciences’ anti-PD-1 antibody Toripalimab (TUOYI®).  Toripalimab is the first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody to obtain a marketing approval in China.