Davy James Ocifisertib is a first-in-class, novel PLK4 inhibitor that has demonstrated significant activity as a monotherapy in both solid and liquid tumors. Image credit: Arif Biswas | stock.adobe.com Treadwell Therapeutics’s ocifisertib (CFI-400945) has been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).1 The first-in-class, novel PLK4 inhibitor has been found to regulate centriole duplication in patients with AML. “The FDA’s decision to grant orphan drug designation, along with the previous FDA Fast Track designation for ocifisertib, underscores [our] dedication to addressing this patient population with few treatment options. Patients with relapsed and/or refractory AML—in particular TP53-mutated disease—suffer poor overall survival and represents a high unmet clinical need,” said Roger Sidhu, MD, acting CEO of Treadwell Therapeutics, in a press release. The PLK4 enzyme is typically overexpressed in cancer cells and has been associated with adverse survival outcomes. Inhibiting PLK4 has been found ...
Pfizer’s S1P receptor modulator Velsipity (etrasimod) has been approved by the European Commission (EC) to treat moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in patients aged 16 years and older. Those eligible for the drug, which is now the first and only oral advanced UC therapy approved in the EU for this patient population, will have had an inadequate response, lost response or been intolerant to conventional therapy or a biological agent. Affecting approximately 2.6 million people in Europe, UC is a chronic, immune-mediated condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed, causing symptoms such as frequent diarrhoea, bowel urgency, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, fatigue, fever and anaemia. The EC’s decision on Velsipity follows a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency’s human medicines committee in December and was supported by positive results from the late-stage ELEVATE UC registrational programme. The ELEVATE UC 52 and ELEVATE UC 12 studies, which evaluated Velsipity 2mg ...
Don Tracy, Associate Editor Amtagvi is the first one-time, individualized T-cell therapy approved by the FDA for any solid tumor cancer. WuXi Advanced Therapies announced that it has officially received approval from the FDA to begin analytical testing and manufacturing of Amtagvi (lifileucel), Iovance Biotherapeutics’ recently approved treatment for advanced melanoma. According to a company press release, the treatment is a tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy, specifically developed for adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma previously treated with a PD-1 blocking antibody. This also marks the first one-time, individualized T cell therapy to be approved by the FDA for any solid tumor cancer. “We congratulate Iovance on this major milestone in their quest to address unmet patient needs in the treatment of advanced melanoma. WuXi ATU has partnered with Iovance since 2015, and we are thrilled to help them through each step of the drug development pipeline – from ...
AstraZeneca’s (AZ) Tagrisso (osimertinib) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in combination with chemotherapy to treat a subset of advanced lung cancer patients. The epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor has specifically been authorised for use alongside chemotherapy in adults with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutated (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). An estimated 200,000 people in the US are diagnosed with lung cancer each year and NSCLC accounts for up to 85% of all lung cancer cases. Approximately 15% of NSCLC patients in the US have an EGFRm, with this population “particularly sensitive” to treatment with an EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks the cell-signalling pathways that drive the growth of tumour cells, AZ said. The FDA’s decision was supported by positive results from the late-stage FLAURA2 trial, which randomised more than 500 patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFRm NSCLC to receive the ...
Davy James Amtagvi (lifileucel) becomes the first and only one-time, individualized T cell therapy to gain FDA approval for a solid tumor cancer. Image credit: Christoph Burgstedt | stock.adobe.com The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Iovance’s Amtagvi (lifileucel) for adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma who received prior treatment with a PD-1 antibody, and in patients who are BRAF V600-positive, a BRAF inhibitor with or without a MEK inhibitor. The regulatory action makes Amtagvi the first and only one-time, individualized T cell therapy to gain FDA approval for a solid tumor cancer. “Unresectable or metastatic melanoma is an aggressive form of cancer that can be fatal,” said Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a press release. “The approval of Amtagvi represents the culmination of scientific and clinical research efforts leading to a novel T cell immunotherapy for patients with limited ...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Amtagvi, the first cellular therapy indicated for the treatment of adult patients with a type of skin cancer (melanoma) that is unable to be removed with surgery (unresectable) or has spread to other parts of the body (metastatic) that previously has been treated with other therapies (a PD-1 blocking antibody, and if BRAF V600 mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor with or without a MEK inhibitor). “Unresectable or metastatic melanoma is an aggressive form of cancer that can be fatal,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). “The approval of Amtagvi represents the culmination of scientific and clinical research efforts leading to a novel T cell immunotherapy for patients with limited treatment options.” Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that is often caused by exposure to ultraviolet light, which can come from sunlight ...
GSK’s Omjjara (momelotinib) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a treatment option for myelofibrosis-related splenomegaly or symptoms in adults with moderate-to-severe anaemia. The agency’s final draft guidance applies to both newly diagnosed and previously treated patients, although those eligible will need to have either not been treated with JAK inhibitors before or been treated with Novartis’ Jakavi (ruxolitinib). Estimated to affect more than 1,900 people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, myelofibrosis is a rare blood cancer that disrupts the body’s normal production of blood cells. About 40% of myelofibrosis patients have moderate-to-severe anaemia at the time of diagnosis and nearly all patients develop anaemia at some point over the course of their disease. Omjjara is a once-a-day oral JAK1/JAK2 and ACVR1 inhibitor that aims to address the key manifestations of the disease. NICE’s recommendation comes shortly after the Medicines and Healthcare ...
Neuroendocrine carcinomas, such as neuroendocrine prostate cancer and small-cell lung cancer, originate in hormone-releasing cells and can develop in various organs, including the prostate and lungs. While they are not the most prevalent cancer type in these organs, they often have a poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Current treatments for these cancers include chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy combinations. Neuroblastoma, predominantly found in young children, develops from immature nerve cells, often in the adrenal glands or nerve tissue along the spine, chest, abdomen, or pelvis. Despite treatment efforts, these therapies only extend survival by a few months, underscoring the need for better therapeutic targets and less invasive diagnostic approaches for these malignancies. Investigators from the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA) have identified UCHL1, a protein found in aggressive neuroendocrine carcinomas and neuroblastoma, as a potential molecular biomarker for diagnosing these cancers and predicting and monitoring ...
Australian biotech QBiotics has won an orphan drug designation for a drug based on a chemical obtained from the blushwood tree, which is being investigated as a treatment for a rare group of cancers called soft tissue sarcoma. Qbiotics will now be in line for tax credits for US-based clinical trials and, if the therapy is approved, the potential for seven years of market exclusivity for the given indication. A veterinary formulation of the drug, tigilanol tiglate, is already approved for use in the US, UK, and Australia under the trade name Stelfonta. QBiotics started life as EcoBiotics, which was established in 2000 to discover potential drugs from Queensland’s tropical rainforest. QBiotics itself was founded in 2004 as a subsidiary of EcoBiotics, and the two groups merged in 2017. The company has signed several biodiscovery agreements covering the rainforest areas in the country in the past decade. The company has ...
After Novartis reportedly backed out of late-stage talks to acquire Cytokinetics earlier this year, the company appears to still be on the M&A prowl.Novartis is in advanced talks to acquire German cancer drug maker MorphoSys, Reuters reports, citing two people familiar with the matter. The anonymous sources stayed mum on details about the bid and a potential acquisition price, according to the news service. Also involved in the MorphoSys M&A talks is Incyte, according to Reuters.As a “matter of policy,” Novartis does not comment on “market rumors/speculations,” a company spokesperson said over email. Incyte and MorphoSys did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s requests for comment. Both known bidders have preexisting ties to the company, with Novartis taking over a MorphoSys preclinical cancer program in 2022 and Incyte partnering on MorphoSys’ sole commercial product, the lymphoma med Monjuvi.Monjuvi garnered $92 million in U.S. sales last year, and MorphoSys expects 2024 sales of between $80 million and $95 million. The Novartis ...
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