Astellas Pharma is working with Kelonia Therapeutics, a startup that develops in vivo CAR T-therapies with technology that precisely delivers genetic cargo to cells. The collaboration combines this tech with a platform from Xyphos Biosciences, a cell therapy developer that Astellas acquired in 2019. By FRANK VINLUAN Cell therapy’s next breakthrough could be the engineering of these cells inside the patient. Two deals more than four years apart put Astellas Pharma in position to ramp up its work developing these in vivo treatments. Under the more recent agreement announced late Thursday, Astellas is collaborating with Kelonia Therapeutics, a startup that has developed technology for precisely delivering genetic cargo to target cells in the body in order to make those cells into in vivo CAR T-therapies. Kelonia calls its technology in vivo gene placement system, or iGPS. The genetic payload delivered to a cell gets it to express a receptor that ...
Dragonfly Therapeutics has entered a clinical collaboration with Gilead Sciences to assess the potential of its investigational drug candidate DF1001 with the latter’s Trodelvy for two cancer indications. The study of the combination regimen will focus on metastatic breast cancer (mBC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). DF1001 is designed to act on natural killer (NK) cells and T-cell activation signals, leveraging co-stimulation of NK receptor NKG2D and CD16 for NK cell activation. Trodelvy is a Trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2-directed antibody-drug conjugate. Dragonfly will maintain operational control of the trial, with the first patients receiving the combination treatment in the second quarter of 2024. Study sites are already operational in the US, Belgium, France, Denmark and the Netherlands. The study is set to expand, with additional sites in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Developed using Dragonfly’s TriNKET platform, DF1001 is being evaluated in adult patients for the treatment of ...
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 ...
Globally, around 1.9 million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year, resulting in approximately 935,000 deaths. Early detection is key, as colorectal cancer can be cured if found early. However, symptoms like weight loss or blood in the stool often emerge too late for effective intervention. Consequently, many countries have initiated population-based screening programs. These programs commonly utilize the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), which detects the blood protein hemoglobin in stool samples. Colorectal cancer screening programs have been effective in diagnosing the disease at earlier stages and reducing mortality rates. Despite the current test’s effectiveness, there is a need for improvement, particularly in detecting larger premalignant polyps before they become invasive. Early detection would allow for these polyps to be removed during a colonoscopy instead of requiring surgery. Researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam, the Netherlandsl) have been developing a new test, the multitargetFIT-test (mtFIT), which measures hemoglobin ...
Innovate UK has awarded a £1m ($1.26m) grant for a collaborative initiative called AI-VISION to aid treatment decisions for breast cancer patients. The project involves the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), Durham University, the Royal Marsden Hospital and techbio company Concr. It will support clinical decision-making, including directing breast cancer patients on the use of immunotherapy. AI-VISION is a 24-month observational clinical study to assess tissue samples from early triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients. These subjects will be analysed to define and establish chemotherapy response biomarkers, irrespective of immunotherapy status. The study aims to validate the safety and performance of new computational methods to offer precision therapies for patients. Concr will apply Bayesian computational frameworks, inspired by astrophysics, to interconnect diverse oncology data, enabling researchers to detect and develop biomarkers indicative of drug response. The ICR will contribute genomic data from its genomics facility, which will be integrated with clinical ...
Tumours with high mtDNA mutations more likely to respond to Opdivo Scientists from the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre have discovered a cancer treatment that can identify patients who are more likely to respond to cancer drugs. Funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Nature Cancer, the study reveals new ways to identify patients who could benefit most from immunotherapy testing for mitochondrial DNA mutations (mtDNA). Researchers rewired the DNA of the mitochondria – energy factories found in living cells – to determine cancer responses to treatments that harness the body’s natural defences to attack cancer cells. Found in up to 50% of all cancers, mtDNA mutations cause mitochondrial dysfunction, which affects adenosine triphosphate levels – the source of energy for use and storage at the cellular level – as well as other cellular processes, leading to neuronal loss. Researchers found that tumours with ...
A new research paper was published in Genes & Cancer on February 5, 2023, entitled, “Mechanistically based blood proteomic markers in the TGF-β pathway stratify risk of hepatocellular cancer in patients with cirrhosis.” Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of death from cancer worldwide but is often diagnosed at an advanced incurable stage. Yet, despite the urgent need for blood-based biomarkers for early detection, few studies capture ongoing biology to identify risk-stratifying biomarkers. In this new study, researchers Xiyan Xiang, Krishanu Bhowmick, Kirti Shetty, Kazufumi Ohshiro, Xiaochun Yang, Linda L. Wong, Herbert Yu, Patricia S. Latham, Sanjaya K. Satapathy, Christina Brennan, Richard J. Dima, Nyasha Chambwe, Gulru Sharifova, Fellanza Cacaj, Sahara John, James M. Crawford, Hai Huang, Srinivasan Dasarathy, Adrian R. Krainer, Aiwu R. He, Richard L. Amdur, and Lopa Mishra, from The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, University of Maryland, University ...
Pfizer announced a partnership with the American Cancer Society aimed at reducing disparities in cancer treatment. As part of the initiative, Pfizer is providing $15 million in funding. This money will go towards improving the health outcomes of cancer patients from underrepresented communities in the United States. This will include working to improve access to cancer screenings, clinical trial opportunities, and patient care. In a press release, Pfizer’s chief oncology officer and executive vice president Chris Boshoff said, “Cancer doesn’t discriminate–and neither should cancer care. Everyone should have the same opportunity to access the latest advances in care, regardless of their background or where they live. We’re proud to partner with the American Cancer Society on a broad, community-focused initiative to reach people living with cancer where they are, with urgency, and connect them to resources to receive the care they deserve.” The partnership will work under the banner of ...
Barrett’s esophagus is a condition often resulting from reflux, characterized by stomach acid damaging the esophagus lining and causing cell changes. While these cells aren’t initially cancerous, there’s a risk they might transform into esophageal cancer, a type where cells in the esophagus proliferate uncontrollably, potentially spreading to other body parts. Esophageal cancer is among the deadliest cancers in adults, and early detection significantly improves survival rates compared to a diagnosis at an advanced stage. Since the symptoms of esophageal cancer can mimic heartburn and reflux, conducting early tests for cancer detection is crucial. Now, a non-endoscopic capsule sponge device has been designed to collect pan-esophageal samples which are then sent for laboratory testing to detect esophageal pre-cancer and other conditions. Cyted’s (Cambridge, UK) EndoSign cell collection device is designed to detect and monitor conditions such as chronic reflux and Barrett’s esophagus, ultimately aiming to prevent esophageal adenocarcinoma. The EndoSign ...
This study was led by Professor Jin Li of Dongfang Hospital, Tongji University, with the participation of a total of 17 centers across China. Previously, four other indications of SHR-A1811 have been included in the list of breakthrough therapeutic varieties by the Drug Evaluation Center of the State Drug Administration, and the indications are: recurrent or metastatic breast cancer with low expression of HER2, HER2-positive recurrent or metastatic breast cancer, HER2-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer that has failed previous platinum-containing chemotherapy, and advanced non-small-cell lung cancer that has failed previous treatments of oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and irinotecan, and has failed previous treatments of oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and irinotecan. irinotecan treatment failure, and HER2-positive colorectal cancer. In 2020, gastric cancer ranks 5th in global cancer incidence and 4th in mortality. HER2-positive gastric cancer is a unique disease subtype that requires different treatment strategies from HER2-negative gastric cancer. The global HER2-positive rate of gastric ...
Go to Page Go
your submission has already been received.
OK
Please enter a valid Email address!
Submit
The most relevant industry news & insight will be sent to you every two weeks.