Merck & Co’s combination treatment has disappointed in a challenging group of lung cancer patients, marking yet another setback for the increasingly precarious anti-TIGIT space even as some analysts say this is not the end of the road.

Neuroscience and oncology fuel high hopes for therapeutic R&D progress among 90-plus surveyed biopharma industry leaders.

In February, Jounce’s future looked bleak after the failure of vopratelimab and fears that its finances would run out. Now, it has two suitors with Concentra making a bid to compete with an all-stock merger with the UK’s Redx.

The San Francisco-based company has taken a step forward with proof of concept for its ‘switch on or switch off’ approach to gene regulation via non-cutting CRISPR molecules.