News and Trends 13 Mar 2018 Danish Biotech Collaborates With US Merck on Combination Therapy for Lung Cancer IO Biotech will test its immune modulator in combination with Merck’s checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda, known for curing former US President Jimmy Carter’s cancer. IO Biotech, based in Copenhagen, has entered an agreement with Merck (the US one) to enter a Phase I/II trial for treating lung cancer with IO’s immune modulator, IO102, and Merck’s checkpoint […] March 13, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 13 Mar 2018 The Most Important Battle in Gene Editing: CRISPR versus TALEN Despite all the hype, CRISPR is still not in the clinic as a standalone therapy or part of another. So where is it in biotech? CRISPR needs no introduction. Since the gene editing technology first entered the spotlight in 2012 with the promise of revolutionizing gene editing, it has made headlines as the subject of a furious […] March 13, 2018 - 6 minutesmins - By Editorial Team Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 1 Mar 2018 Could This Parisian Biotech Startup’s Cancer Treatment Compete With Merck and Novartis? Stimunity, a Parisian biotech, secured a 2M€ seed investment to develop a cancer treatment that could compete with that of big players such as Merck and Novartis. Stimunity is a preclinical-stage startup company which develops drugs targeting a new cell signalling pathway to treat cancer. The company secured funding from Portage, a US-Canadian firm that […] March 1, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Feb 2018 Yet Another Checkpoint Inhibitor Goes to Trial with Bavarian Nordic’s Cancer Vaccine Bavarian Nordic and AstraZeneca collaborate on a treatment that uses a cancer vaccine along with a checkpoint inhibitor to treat colorectal and pancreatic cancer. Notably, this is the third checkpoint inhibitor to be tested with Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine. A Phase I/II trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of using Bavarian Nordic’s cancer vaccine CV301 in […] February 28, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Feb 2018 FDA Approves AstraZeneca’s Lung Cancer Treatment after Rejecting Merck and Pfizer’s The FDA approval will give AstraZeneca a competitive advantage in the lung cancer treatment market over Merck KGaA & Pfizer, who received rejections for a similar treatment. AstraZeneca received FDA approval for Imfinzi in non-small cell lung cancer one day after Merck KgA and Pfizer received a rejection for competitor drug Bavencio in the same indication. Imfinzi (durvalumab) […] February 21, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alexander Burik Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Feb 2018 French Biotech Gets a CRISPR Patent for CAR-T Research Update (16/02/2018): On top of the European patent it got last July, Cellectis now also has two US patents to use CRISPR technology to make CAR-T cells. Cellectis has said it will offer licenses to companies that want to use CRISPR gene editing in T cells. Not just for inserting CAR antigens, but also other editions […] February 16, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Feb 2018 Bicycle’s First Peptide-Toxin Conjugate Enters the Clinic for Solid Tumors A collaboration between Bicycle Therapeutics and Cancer Research UK has yielded its first peptide to enter clinical trials for solid tumors. Bicycle Therapeutics, the pioneer of the bicyclic peptide platform, has dosed the first patient in a Phase I/IIa trial with its solid tumors candidate, BT1718. The study will test the drug’s safety and efficacy in […] February 14, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Feb 2018 Erytech’s ‘Armed’ Red Blood Cells Will be Tested Against Triple Negative Breast Cancer Erytech will test its Graspa technology for the treatment of a second solid tumor indication, breast cancer, following its success in pancreatic cancer. French biotech Erytech has developed an exciting platform for the treatment of cancer called Graspa, which encapsulates L-asparaginase in red blood cells. The company is now organizing a Phase II study for its next disease […] February 13, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Feb 2018 Scottish CAR-T Biotech Adds Another Stellar Partner to Its Roster TC Biopharm has signed a new pharma partner, the Japan-based NIPRO Corporation, who will give the biotech a leg up in the CAR-T game. Hot on the heels of the two huge CAR-T acquisitions of Juno and Kite, Japanese pharma NIPRO Corporation is planting a foot in the game by partnering with Scotland-based TC Biopharm […] February 7, 2018 - 1 minutemin - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Feb 2018 Spring Cleaning: AstraZeneca Ditches Underperforming Asthma and Cancer Candidates AstraZeneca has given up on the development of its PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor drug, which was the headline act when its subsidiary MedImmune acquired Amplimmune in 2013. There was no sentiment as pharma giant AstraZeneca cut a number of drugs from its pipeline after they did not perform as expected during clinical trials. The biggest name to get […] February 6, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Jan 2018 Two Biotechs Team Up to Test their Cancer Antibody Combo in the Clinic Innate Pharma and MedImmune will test the combination of Innate’s cancer antibody and the checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab in patients with solid tumors. Innate Pharma uses antibodies to enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. It has formed a clinical trial collaboration with the MedImmune, an R&D arm of AstraZeneca. The two companies will share the costs […] January 30, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 30 Jan 2018 The Female Sex Hormone Estrogen Could Help to Fight Neuroblastoma Estrogen receptors are switched off in aggressive cases of neuroblastoma so scientists have tested boosting estrogen activity to fight the disease. Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm have found that there could be a role for the female sex hormone estrogen in neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that tends to affect young children. The results […] January 30, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email