A project being led by King’s College London (KCL) has received funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) totalling £100,000 to create a platform to boost artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted healthcare for cancer diagnosis. The PharosAI project will develop a platform for AI researchers and companies to access cancer-related datasets to train AI in healthcare settings. One of 12 teams awarded as part of the DSIT’s Research Venture Catalyst Programme, the project will comprise researchers from KCL, Guy’s and St Thomas’s Trust, Bart’s Cancer Institute and Bart’s Health Trust. The platform will help researchers and companies develop, evaluate and deploy NHS-quality AI for cancer diagnosis, offering AI clinical evaluation, deployment, standards validation services and educational programmes. According to the project proposal, researchers aim to develop a data refinery sourced from over 50,000 patient samples from King’s Health Partners Cancer Biobank and the Breast Cancer Now Tissue Bank to ...
Don Tracy, Associate Editor The deal, which is worth approximately $13.1 billion, is part of J&J MedTech’s goal to expand into high-growth markets. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced that it has agreed to terms on acquiring Shockwave Medical, an intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) technology company focused on coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease. According to J&J, the deal is a part of its strategy to enhance the profile of its MedTech division, with an emphasis on the area of cardiovascular intervention. Shockwave Medical’s IVL technology is described as a minimally invasive treatment for calcified artery diseases that can also lead to reduced blood flow, pain, or heart attacks. Under terms of the deal, J&J is expected to acquire all outstanding shares of the company for $335.00 per share in cash.1 “Shockwave offers a truly differentiated opportunity to further enhance our leadership position in medtech, expand into additional high-growth segments, ...
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the launch of a generative artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital health promoter prototype ahead of World Health Day on 7 April. Celebrated annually, World Health Day draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people globally. This year’s theme, ‘My Health, My Right’, champions the right of everyone, everywhere to have access to quality health services, education and information. The Smart AI Resource Assistant for Health (SARAH) will comprise new language models and cutting-edge technology to engage users across major health topics, including healthy habits and mental health. SARAH aims to provide an additional tool for people to learn their rights to health, by supporting them in developing a better understanding of risk factors for some of the leading causes of death worldwide, including cancer, heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. In addition, the AI assistant can help individuals access up-to-date information ...
Researchers from King’s College London’s (KCL) Comprehensive Cancer Centre have identified a key mechanism that governs how bone marrow stem cells work, which could potentially lead to new therapeutic pathways. The findings from the study will help researchers further understand the key principles involved in stem cell biology and could provide new avenues for the development of efficient stem cell therapeutics. Researchers identified two molecules, Hoxa9 and b-catenin, that control when bone marrow stem cells rest and recover, as well as when they act and replicate. Both molecules work together to control a rare population of self-renewing stem cells that are predominantly found in bone marrow, known as haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs are protected from environmental stressors and prevent exhaustion by resting, while inactive HSCs must become active again, replicating themselves by turning into different blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, to replenish the ...
BY SEAN WHOOLEY The TULSA-PRO system from Profound Medical. [Image from Siemens Healthineers]Profound Medical (Nasdaq:PROF) announced today that it entered into a non-exclusive collaboration with Siemens Healthineers. The two companies aim to lay the groundwork for Profound to begin marketing a complete therapeutics solution. They want to combine the Profound TULSA-PRO system with the Siemens Magnetom Free.Max magnetic resonance (MR) scanner. While this combination falls under the remit of Profound’s own sales force, the company also plan to market TULSA-PRO as a standalone offering. This enables customers to use the technology with the MR hardware of their choice. TULSA-PRO performs the company’s transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA) procedure. It employs real-time MR guidance for precision while killing targeted prostate tissue through sound absorption technology. The system enables surgeons to ablate whole- or partial-gland prostate tissue in patients with low- intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer. It also treats benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). ...
Data supports Poolbeg’s strategic expansion of POLB 001 Poolbeg – a company focused on innovative medicines – has announced promising in vivo results for POLB 001 in treating cancer immunotherapy-induced cytokine release syndrome (CRS). The drug showed efficacy in significantly reducing the condition in an animal model with CRS symptoms. The data further supports Poolbeg’s strategic expansion of the phase II-ready POLB 001 while the emerging results facilitate the expansion of patent applications for the therapy. As an oral therapy to prevent or treat CRS, POLB 001 has the potential to enable a broader use of cancer immunotherapies in an outpatient setting. Meanwhile, cancer immunotherapies are being developed through a considerable range of haematological malignancies, solid tumours and immune inflammatory diseases, which represents an even greater market opportunity. Due to the CRS risk – which can be life threatening – administration of cancer immunotherapies, such as bispecific antibodies, is currently ...
XIlio Therapeutics has implemented cost-cutting measures which include a 21% workforce reduction and the termination of investments for developing one of its assets, XTX202, as a monotherapy. Xilio expects to incur one-time cost of approximately $1m for reducing its workforce by 15 employees. The company has reported $44.7m in cash reserves, which are expected to fund the company’s activities into Q2 2025. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company’s market cap currently stands at $42.1m. Following the recent round of layoffs, Xilio joins a list of pharmaceutical companies including Atreca, Candel Therapeutics, Kinnate Bio, and NexImmune that have fired workers to funnel more money into their clinical development pipelines in the last few months. The company plans to not investigate XTX202, a tumour-activated beta-gamma biased interleukin (IL)-2, as a monotherapy and instead will explore partnerships to develop the therapy as a combination treatment. The therapy was evaluated in an open label Phase I/II ...
Cellenkos has signed a sponsored research agreement with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, US, to investigate the use of CK0804, a T-regulatory cell therapy for myelofibrosis. The collaboration aims to explore the therapeutic potential of CK0804, an allogeneic, cord blood-derived T-regulatory cell product enriched with C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4. The research will be led by Ronald Hoffman, director of the Myeloproliferative Disorders Research Program at the Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai. CK0804 uses Cellenkos’ CRANE technology to create disease-specific cell therapy products. This approach allows CK0804 cells to preferentially target inflamed bone marrow. Cellenkos chief operating officer Tara Sadeghi stated: “We are very excited by our collaboration with Mount Sinai and eagerly anticipate gaining a deeper understanding of [how] mechanisms of CK0804 Tregs work in myelofibrosis, especially to decrease inflammation. “CK0804 is already in a Phase I clinical trial to examine its safety ...
Don Tracy, Associate Editor Treatment approved in combination with ravulizumab or eculizumab, representing minority demographic still suffering after receiving C5 inhibitor therapy for extravascular haemolysis. Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease announced that the FDA has approved Voydeya (danicopan) as an add-on therapy for the treatment of extravascular haemolysis (EVH) in adults with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), in combination with ravulizumab or eculizumab. According to the company, the medication treats patients with significant EVH despite receiving C5 inhibitor therapy. The approval was based on positive results from the Phase III ALPHA trial, which found that Voydeya improved hemoglobin levels while providing the benefit of avoiding transfusions after a primary 12-week period. Additionally, there was no significant increases reported related to safety concerns, with common adverse reactions including headache, nausea, arthralgia, and diarrhea.1 “The approval of first-in-class, Factor D inhibitor Voydeya marks an important advancement in the treatment of PNH and builds on ...
Don Tracy, Associate Editor Deal aims to commercialize XTX301 for treating advanced solid tumors by leveraging Xilio’s tumor-activated immuno-oncology therapies. Gilead Sciences and Xilio Therapeutics announced that they have agreed to terms on a licensing agreement regarding XTX301, Xilio’s Phase I tumor-activated IL-12. According to Gilead, the partnership aims to expand the company’s focus in immuno-oncology, leveraging Xilio’s novel tumor-activation platform to improve its therapeutic nature and build a consistent pipeline of tumor-activated molecules. As per the deal, Xilio will receive an upfront payment of $43.5 million, with $30 million in cash and an equity investment of $13.5 million provided by Gilead in common stock. Overall, Xilio will have the opportunity to earn up to $604 million based on specified development, regulatory, and sales-based milestones.1 “Xilio’s novel tumor-activation platform naturally complements Gilead’s clinical development program in difficult-to-treat cancers and expands our focus in immuno-oncology,” said Bill Grossman, MD, PhD, SVP, ...
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