Immunotherapy Archives

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

Interview 29 Jan 2018

Meet the CEO of the Other Big Biotech Acquisition Target in 2017

Christian Schetter’s company, Rigontec, was acquired by MSD last year for nearly half a billion euro. How did he and the company do it, with only one early-stage candidate? There were exactly two notable biotech acquisitions in Europe last year: Actelion and a smaller startup based in Munich called Rigontec, which had an RNA candidate […]

January 29, 2018 - 9 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner

News and Trends 25 Jan 2018

Researchers Take Aim at Pancreatic Cancer with a Modified Flu Virus

In an early study at Queen Mary University in London, a modified flu virus has been able to block the growth of pancreatic cancer. For the first time, researchers at Queen Mary University, London, have shown that pancreatic cancer can be targeted using a modified flu virus. During a study, published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, […]

January 25, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale

Infographics 10 Jan 2018

Infographic: All You Need to Know About Checkpoint Inhibitors

Everything you need to know about what checkpoint inhibitors are and why they have caused a wave of hype for cancer immunotherapies. Since the approval of the first PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, Keytruda, in 2014, there has been an explosion of the numbers of trials testing these drugs, both alone and in combination. The latest figure, […]

January 10, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 4 Jan 2018

German Biotech Raises Record $270M Series A for Individualized Cancer Therapies

BioNTech will dedicate its huge fundraising to develop personalized cancer immunotherapies using CAR-T, TCR and mRNA technologies. BioNTech is kicking off the new year with great news. The company has closed its Series A with $270M (€225M) — a record amount in Germany for such an early funding round. The fundraising was led by the […]

January 4, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 20 Dec 2017

Actelion Spin Out and Roche Join Forces to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies

Idorsia and Roche have agreed on a research collaboration, with the big pharma getting exclusive rights to develop and license resultant cancer immunotherapy drugs. Idorsia was formed out of J&J’s acquisition of Actelion for €27.9B at the beginning of the year. The spin out, led by Jean-Paul and Martine Clozel, kept hold of Actelion’s drug discovery and early […]

December 20, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale

hpv cancer isa pharmaceuticals regeneron

News and Trends 18 Dec 2017

Dutch and US Biotechs Team Up Against HPV-related Cancer

ISA Pharmaceuticals will work together with Regeneron to combine its immunotherapy against cancer induced by HPV infection with its partner’s PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is known for its ability to cause cancer, including cervical and head and neck cancer. Based in Leiden, the Netherlands, ISA Pharmaceuticals’ target choice is type 16 HPV, which […]

December 18, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 13 Dec 2017

Off-the-Shelf CAR-T Cells Struggle to Improve Cancer Treatment

Data presented at ASH 2017 shows that Servier and Pfizer’s UCART19, an allogeneic CAR-T therapy originally developed by Cellectis, might struggle to outperform autologous CAR-T cells. CAR-T cell therapy has proved to be effective at treating cancer in patients for whom scarce hope was left. Yet pricing is still a big concern. Companies like Cellectis are trying […]

December 13, 2017 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 12 Dec 2017

Immunotherapy for Uveal Melanoma is on Track for Early Access in the UK

The UK grants Immunocore access to a fast-track scheme that will make its immunotherapy IMCgp100 available to patients with uveal melanoma before approval. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has deemed Immunocore’s technology worth being used by patients before it’s approved. The regulatory agency has granted Promising Innovative Medicines (PIM) designation to IMCgp100 for […]

December 12, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 29 Nov 2017

Merck and Pfizer’s Checkpoint Inhibitor Fails to Treat Gastric Cancer

Avelumab, marketed as Bavencio by Pfizer and Merck, has failed to show better efficacy than chemotherapy in a Phase III trial with gastric cancer patients. Merck (the German one) and Pfizer joined the checkpoint inhibitor club earlier this year with the approval of Bavencio (avelumab) in both the US and Europe. Looking to keep expanding the […]

November 29, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 29 Nov 2017

One Mouse with All-Human Antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies have long been the focus of research surrounding drug development against inflammatory diseases and cancer. For decades, researchers have had to travel along a strenuous path to get to where we are now. After monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were discovered in the first half of the 20th century, researchers quickly understood that animals, such […]

November 29, 2017 - 6 minutesmins - By External Contributor

imcyse type 1 diabetes immunotherapy cure

News and Trends 15 Nov 2017

Update: Belgian Biotech Starts Human Trials for a Potential Type 1 Diabetes Cure

Update (15/11/2017): Imcyse has officially started recruiting patients to test its therapy for type 1 diabetes. The clinical trial will recruit up to 40 patients across 15 European centers, and the first patient has already enrolled at the Steno Diabetes Center in Copenhagen. Originally published on 30/05/2017 Imcyse will run its first clinical trial testing […]

November 15, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

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Immunotherapy

FDA Approves AstraZeneca’s Lung Cancer Treatment after Rejecting Merck and Pfizer’s

Meet the CEO of the Other Big Biotech Acquisition Target in 2017

Researchers Take Aim at Pancreatic Cancer with a Modified Flu Virus

Infographic: All You Need to Know About Checkpoint Inhibitors

German Biotech Raises Record $270M Series A for Individualized Cancer Therapies

Actelion Spin Out and Roche Join Forces to Develop Cancer Immunotherapies

Dutch and US Biotechs Team Up Against HPV-related Cancer

Off-the-Shelf CAR-T Cells Struggle to Improve Cancer Treatment

Immunotherapy for Uveal Melanoma is on Track for Early Access in the UK

Merck and Pfizer’s Checkpoint Inhibitor Fails to Treat Gastric Cancer

One Mouse with All-Human Antibodies

Update: Belgian Biotech Starts Human Trials for a Potential Type 1 Diabetes Cure

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The top biotech deals of March 2025

The biggest biotech funding rounds in March 2025

Join the webinar: AI in antibody discovery - from in silico analysis to AI-enabled data management

Beyond amyloid: The search for the next big thing in Alzheimer’s treatment

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

Subscribe to our newsletter

Advertise with us

The top biotech deals of March 2025

The biggest biotech funding rounds in March 2025

Join the webinar: AI in antibody discovery - from in silico analysis to AI-enabled data management

Beyond amyloid: The search for the next big thing in Alzheimer’s treatment

Connect with decision-makers and researchers worldwide for collaborative opportunities

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Advertise with us

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