Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, as part of an international collaboration of scientists through the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium, have analysed the whole genomes of tumour samples from over 2,600 patients with different types of cancer. They identified a high prevalence of genetic diversity within individual tumours,… Read More
Cancer research in the UK is at risk through a combination of proposed government funding cuts for UK science and the impact of the pandemic on charity funding, warns a leading cancer research institute. The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) is revealing reductions of as much as a fifth in… Read More
The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers have identified the most toxic proteins made by SARS-COV-2 and then used an FDA-approved cancer drug to blunt the viral protein’s detrimental effects. In experiments in fruit flies and human cell lines, the team discovered the cell process that the virus… Read More
SignalChem Lifesciences, a clinical-stage company who develop novel targeted therapies for oncology, has announced its collaboration with Merck, through a subsidiary, to evaluate the combination of SLC-391, a selective AXL inhibitor developed by SignalChem, with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). AXL,… Read More
The Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC), based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, has launched a new feature that will allow users to see which drugs are available to target specific cancer mutations. This new resource is a positive step towards making precision oncology possible for all cancer patients. Read More
A team of researchers has found disrupting the interaction between cancer cells and certain immune cells is more effective at killing cancer cells than current immunotherapy treatments. The findings, which include studies in cell lines and animal models, appeared in JCI Insight and focus on a protein called CD6 as… Read More
New research from scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute has shown a gene not previously linked to cancer plays a key role in the spread of certain cancers to the lungs. The team found that when the gene LRRN4CL was over-expressed in mice, the… Read More
eTheRNA Immunotherapies, a clinical-stage company developing mRNA-based immunotherapies as off-the-shelf products for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, has announced the award of a TIGER grant of €6.9 million from the EU commission. The grant was awarded to a consortium led by eTheRNA and will be used to accelerate the development of… Read More
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, has discovered a drug that could counteract drug resistance in patients with cancers including acute myeloid leukaemia. It has entered a Phase I clinical trial at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The drug, now called EP0042, is a dual inhibitor of cancer-driving… Read More
More than half of cancer patients receiving a single dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine may be left with little protection against the virus, according to a new preprint from researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and King’s College London. Data from the world’s first reported trial to examine the… Read More
Bicara Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing dual-action biologics designed to spur a potent and durable immune response in the tumour microenvironment, launched with a US$40 million investment from Biocon. The financing will be used to advance a pipeline of first-in-class bifunctional antibodies developed by a global team, including a… Read More
Immodulon, the immuno-oncology company, will present at the 11th World Clinical Biomarkers & Companion Diagnostic Europe Event taking place virtually 24-25 March 2021. The presentation, titled ‘Clinical Biomarker Strategy with a Complex Immunomodulator: The Must-Haves & the Nice-To-Haves On a Limited Budget’, will be presented at 12:45 CET, March 25, 2021,… Read More
Avacta, developer of cancer therapies and diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer and pre|CISION platforms, has announced a licensing agreement with Biokit, to incorporate Affimer reagents into a Biokit in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) product. Biokit has experience in research, development and manufacturing of assays and biomaterial solutions for IVD use. Under… Read More
The earliest changes that occur in seemingly healthy breast tissue before tumours appear may have been found by researchers, suggests a new study published in Nature Communications. The study in mice, funded by Cancer Research UK, showed that before becoming cancerous, breast cells with the BRCA1 gene mutation undergo changes similar… Read More
Pathios, a biotech company focused on the development of first-in-class therapies for cancer, announced that it has been awarded £350K in the form of a Smart Grant from Innovate UK. The UK government innovation agency’s money will accelerate Pathios’ cancer immunotherapy programme which targets the innate immune checkpoint, GPR65. Pathios… Read More
Repositive has announced that UK-based personalised therapeutics company Vivan Therapeutics will join its network of cancer model partners. Vivan Therapeutics is a personalised therapeutics company that engineers drosophila ‘avatar’ models for cancer research and development. Its technology engineers the genetic complexity of a cancer patient’s unique tumour network (up to… Read More
