Nordic Nanovector finally throws in the towel

Years behind schedule and on its seventh chief executive since 2016, Nordic Nanovector has finally admitted defeat with Betalutin in third-line follicular lymphoma. Concern about the progress of the Paradigme trial prompted a look at the data, which confirmed the worst: a profile that rendered the project, a CD37-targeted radionucleotide, irrelevant. Only one in three patients responded, with approximately six months duration, it was revealed today; executives described the finding as “strange” given previous results, but could offer no explanation for the deteriorating data. Bispecifics are generating encouraging results in lymphoma – Roche’s Lunsumio (mosunetuzumab) was approved in Europe last month in FL and others are coming behind. Nanovector said excitement about bispecifics and early access programmes contributed to Paradigme’s slow enrolment – a little over half the targeted 200 patients had been recruited since 2018. Ultimately, Nanovector has paid the price for falling behind in this space, though of course the pandemic, and the company’s constant battle to raise funds, did not help. The Norwegian developer maintains that there is potential in Betalutin and the remainder of its CD37-focused pipeline, but a promise to find partners to explore future paths forward could be hard to keep.