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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
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 Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Nov 2017 This British Biotech Could Treat T-Cell Lymphoma without Leaving the Body Unprotected Autolus has revealed a new strategy to treat T-cell lymphoma without harming healthy, protective T cells. The therapy is expected to start human tests soon. T-cell lymphoma is a form of cancer that affects the cells responsible for protecting our body against infections. Unlike it’s done with cancer types that affect other blood cells, it’s […] November 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Nov 2017 British Biotech Gets a £2.5M Grant to Boost Cancer Immunotherapy Tusk Therapeutics is working on immunotherapies to ignite the immune system against cancer. The £2.5M grant will help it to accelerate their development. Tusk Therapeutics focuses on immuno-oncology to ‘harness the power’ of the immune system. One of its candidates is an antibody that targets the CD38 immune checkpoint, which is a marker of cell activation that […] November 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Nov 2017 Biotech Unicorn’s T-Cell Receptor Therapy “Nearly Doubles” Survival in Uveal Melanoma Immunocore, one of the only three European biotech unicorns, has presented Phase I results for its TCR immunotherapy IMCgp100 in patients suffering from metastatic uveal melanoma. Results are positive, but perhaps not to the level of expectation for a company with such a high valuation. On Saturday, Immunocore presented its latest clinical results at the Society […] November 13, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 26 Oct 2017 Meet John Beadle, the Serial Entrepreneur with the Key to Oncolytic Viruses Serial entrepreneur John Beadle is now at the helm of PsiOxus, an Oxford biotech with some promising virus-based cancer treatments. Oncolytic viruses have been around for a while without much to show for themselves besides Amgen’s Imlygic, but PsiOxus, one of our top Oxford biotechs, has some ideas to make them bear fruit. The company […] October 26, 2017 - 8 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Oct 2017 The FDA Approves a Second CAR-T Therapy, Cheaper than Novartis’ Gilead’s CAR-T cell therapy Yescarta has been approved by the FDA, making it the first competitor for Novartis’ CAR-T Kymriah. Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel, or axi-cel for short) has become the second CAR-T therapy to be approved in the US. The FDA has authorized its use to treat aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma in patients for whom at least two […] October 19, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 12 Oct 2017 This New Approach Simplifies Protein Analysis Analyzing your protein sample can be a right hassle. It takes time, energy and a LOT of nerves. Especially, when the experiment has not worked out the way one wanted it to. But there is a way around it, and this company has found the solution! The use of protein biomarkers has become an essential […] October 12, 2017 - 5 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 9 Oct 2017 The Woman Developing the Next Generation of Cancer Immunotherapy Özlem Türeci discusses the future of individualized cancer therapy and her journey to become an entrepreneur and take science to patients. As a trained physician and immunologist, Dr. Özlem Türeci has led her own research group with Prof. Ugur Sahin at the University of Mainz, Germany, since 2000. But academic research was not enough for her, […] October 9, 2017 - 8 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email