News and Trends 31 Aug 2017 The FDA Approves the First CAR-T Cell Therapy for Cancer The FDA has approved Novartis’ CAR-T therapy Kymriah, opening the way for a new generation of cell therapy treatments against cancer. Novartis’ Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), formerly known as CTL019, has become the first gene-modified cell therapy approved in the US. The FDA has approved the therapy for relapsing B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children and young […] August 31, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Aug 2017 Gilead’s €10Bn Buyout of Kite Pharma Shakes European CAR-T Stocks European CAR-T stocks have jumped following Gilead’s announcement that it will acquire Kite Pharma, Novartis’ main competitor to launch the first therapy. Yesterday, Gilead bought a $11.9Bn (€9.9Bn) ticket to enter the final leg of the race to launch the first CAR-T therapy, a technology that is expected to change how cancer is treated. Despite the technology’s […] August 29, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 28 Aug 2017 Austrian Biotech Gets €25M of EU Funding to Fight Rare Childhood Cancer Apeiron Biologics has been granted financing of €25M from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the development of new treatments for cancer. Apeiron Biologics is a biotech based in Vienna focused on developing immuno-oncology treatments designed to make the immune system attack cancer cells. The EIB has decided to support the company’s research of a […] August 28, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Aug 2017 Merck Ventures Joins Series A of Brisith Biotech Using Macrophages to Fight Cancer Merck Ventures has joined the team of investors behind Macrophage Pharma, a biotech in Windsor, UK, using macrophages against cancer. Macrophage Pharma is a young biotech working on a new approach to boost the immune system’s ability to attack tumor cells. Its technology attracted £9M (€9.8M) in Series A earlier this year from the CRT Pioneer […] August 24, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Aug 2017 First-in-Human Trial will test a New Cancer Therapy from Switzerland Cellestia Biotech will start human trials with CB-103, an anticancer drug targeting the Notch signaling pathway, known for its ubiquity in cancer. Cellestia Biotech, based in Basel, has announced it received full approval to start clinical trials in Spain with CB-103, a new class of drug that targets an ubiquitous cancer mechanism. The drug is a […] August 21, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Aug 2017 German Biotech Starts Trials with a Personalized Cell Therapy for Multiple Cancers Immatics will start a first clinical trial to test IMA101, a personalized cell therapy with the potential to treat multiple types of solid tumors. Based in Tübingen, Germany, Immatics has announced today the start of its first clinical trial testing its cell therapy technology aimed at providing personalized treatments for multiple types of solid tumors. The […] August 21, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Aug 2017 Swedish Scientists Launch Online Pathology Atlas of All Known Cancer Genes A team of Swedish researchers has published today an interactive map for the visualization of the effects of individual cancer genes that supports personalized medicine. The new Pathology Atlas is an open access online resource containing genomic data from over 8,000 patients across 17 major cancer types. By typing in the name of any gene […] August 18, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Aug 2017 UK Pharma Pays Over €200M for a German Drug Against Biliary Cancer Mundipharma has acquired the rights to CAP7.1, a drug that could bring the first alternative to surgery and chemo for patients with biliary tract cancer. Cambridge-based Mundipharma has paid $250M (€212M) to the German biotech CellAct in exchange for the worldwide development, commercialization and manufacturing rights to CAP7.1. The candidate is a prodrug that, when metabolized, […] August 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Aug 2017 Cancer Research UK Teams Up with London Startup in Immuno-oncology Biotecnol, based in London, has found a partner in CRUK to bring its immune-stimulating antibody into the clinic to tackle solid tumors. There will (probably) be a new immuno-oncology drug on the block soon: Cancer Research UK has gone in on London startup Biotecnol‘s antibody in a deal to bring it to an open-label Phase […] August 11, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 Aug 2017 Scottish Biotech gets €4M from Horizon 2020 for Off-the-Shelf Cell Therapy TC Biopharm has just received the largest award of its kind to develop allogeneic gamma-delta T cell therapies for various cancers. Based in Glasgow, TC Biopharm was just selected to receive €4M from Horizon 2020 for its “off-the-shelf” gamma-delta T cell program. This grant brings the company’s fundraising total to €25M, and it’s the largest any UK […] August 2, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Jul 2017 Swiss Researchers Unveil Cancer Immunotherapy Resistance Mechanism Scientists from the University of Zurich have identified an epigenetic control switch responsible for turning melanoma unresponsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors. A study published this week in Cell Reports describes a mechanism that might be responsible for the development of resistance to cancer immunotherapy. The culprit turned out to be Ezh2, a protein that controls genetic […] July 27, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Jul 2017 AstraZeneca Misses Endpoint in Big Checkpoint Inhibitor Combo Trial AstraZeneca has announced its Phase III trial with durvalumab and tremelimumab has failed to achieve better results than standard chemotherapy in lung cancer. AstraZeneca’s MYSTIC study was evaluating a combination of checkpoint inhibitors as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The therapy couldn’t improve progression-free survival when compared with the standard of care […] July 27, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email