Imperial College spinout NK:IO was awarded a £1.6m ($2m) Innovate UK New Cancer Therapeutics grant in 2023 to develop a pioneering NK cell therapy. Diana Spencer catches up with Co-Founder Mike Romanos to find out more. DS: How can NK cell therapy tackle the limitations of cancer immunotherapy? MR: Cancer… Read More
In vivo testing has validated Oxford Drug Design’s potential first-in-class approach against multiple tumours, designed using its AI platform. The results of a 28-day mouse trial showed clear efficacy as well as dose response. The company’s approach is based on a novel target, leucyl-tRNA… Read More
From 5-10 April 2024 in San Diego, the cancer research community gathered for the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). DDW’s Megan Thomas spoke with biotech and pharma leaders to understand more about the cancer research landscape. An event of this size provides a wide-angle lens… Read More
DDW’s Megan Thomas talks to Ali Tavassoli, Chief Scientific Officer of Curve Therapeutics and Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of Southampton, UK. MT: Where do you work, and can you tell us what you’re working on at the moment? AT: We spun Curve out of my academic group five… Read More
iOnctura has expanded its clinical trial programme for roginolisib to include non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Via clinical collaboration agreements with the ETOP IBCSG Partners Foundation and GSK, roginolisib will be evaluated in a Phase II study in combination with dostarlimab in patients with NSCLC… Read More
This is the latest episode of the free DDW narrated podcast, titled “How to utilise clinical trials in drug discovery” which covers two articles written for Volume 24 – Issue 1, Winter 2022/2023 of DDW. They are called: The ‘dark matter’ behind cancer and Could this ‘Goldilocks’… Read More
Scientists from the University of Manchester have uncovered a more efficient and sustainable way to make peptide-based medicines, showing promising effectiveness in combating cancers. Peptides are used in many medicines, as well as in vaccines and nanomaterials. However, making peptides in the lab is currently a… Read More
Researchers at Stanford University have revealed new insights related to pancreatic cancer’s resistance to chemotherapy. In a new paper, the scientists revealed that its resistance is related to both the physical stiffness of the tissue around the cancerous cells and the chemical makeup… Read More
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have mapped all the possible outcomes of changes to a tumour-suppressing gene called VHL. The VHL map could help clinicians work out which patients are at risk of developing kidney cancer or might respond to certain drugs. It… Read More
Biopharmaceutical company Syncromune has had its lead-candidate for the treatment of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) granted Fast Track designation by the FDA. Syncromune’s SYNC-T SV-102 therapy is a personalised treatment that comprises of an in situ vaccine via partial oncolysis of a tumour followed by intratumoral infusion of the SV-102 fixed-dose… Read More
Redx Pharma has announced data from all Phase II clinical trial modules of zamaporvint (RXC004), a potent, selective, orally-active Porcupine inhibitor in development for Wnt-ligand dependent, hard-to-treat gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. These data, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers (ESMO GI) Congress, were from… Read More
In a Phase I trial, patients with metastatic kidney cancer who took a live biotherapeutic product alongside immunotherapy and enzymatic tyrosine kinase inhibitors experienced improved health outcomes. City of Hope, US, researchers are now in discussions with the global SWOG Cancer Research Network to design a… Read More
Korean scientists have found that HVH-2930, an innovative HSP90 inhibitor, demonstrates promising efficacy in inducing cancer cell apoptosis and overcoming treatment resistance in HER2-positive breast cancer. Unlike previous HSP90 inhibitors, the compound circumvents limitations by bypassing heat shock response (HSR) induction. Professor Jae Hong… Read More
Drugs developed to treat HIV and AIDS are being trialled for the first time in patients with multiple brain tumours. Scientists at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth are conducting a clinical trial to see whether using anti-retroviral medications, ritonavir… Read More
Allogene Therapeutics and Foresight Diagnostics have announced the initiation of a Phase II trial evaluating the use of cemacabtagene ansegedleucel (cema-cel) as part of the first line treatment regimen for newly diagnosed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) patients who are likely to relapse. The ALPHA3 trial will… Read More
iOnctura has closed an €80 million Series B financing to continue developing a portfolio of precision oral small molecules that target cancers in novel ways. The funding round was led by new investor Syncona Limited with participation by the EIC Fund, the venture arm of the European Innovation Council… Read More
