Avacta, the developer of Affimer biotherapeutics and reagents, has received approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for its Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) in the UK for a Phase I study of its lead pre|CISION pro-drug, AVA6000 pro-doxorubicin. In AVA6000, doxorubicin has been modified with Avacta’s pre|CISION… Read More
Samsung Biologics has obtained Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the FDA for its client to begin clinical trials on a cancer immunotherapy. In late 2018, National OncoVenture (NOV), a government-funded virtual oncology drug development program in Korea, approached Samsung Biologics for the development of EU101(NOV1801), an anti-4-1BB therapeutic monoclonal… Read More
4D pharma, a pharmaceutical company looking at the development of Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs), a novel class of drug derived from the microbiome, has announced a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck and Pfizer for BAVENCIO(R) (avelumab), the immunotherapy approved as a first-line maintenance treatment for patients with… Read More
X-Chem, expert in DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) technology to identify novel drug leads, has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. The goal of the collaboration is to discover and develop novel small molecule treatments in oncology. Under the terms of the… Read More
Researchers from UCL Division of Infection & Immunity will lead on two collaborative projects with AstraZeneca. The projects’ long-term aim is to contribute to the development of new cancer treatments. These research collaborations will investigate immune checkpoints which are key biochemical pathways that regulate our body’s immune responses. These are… Read More
Taconic Biosciences, global provider of drug discovery animal model solutions, has expanded its immuno-oncology portfolio. Immuno-oncology is a leading research priority because it uses the body’s own immune system to effectively treat some types of cancer. Syngeneic tumour animal models play a critical role because they use standard inbred mice… Read More
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, the UCL Cancer Institute, and the Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence have identified genetic changes in tumours which could be used to predict if immunotherapy drugs would be effective in individual patients. Immunotherapies have led to huge progress treating certain types… Read More
Fostering synergies to accelerate innovation in oncology and make it attractive for partners has been the MATWIN motto for over a decade, writes CEO Lucia Robert, MATWIN who outlines the organisations’s work MATWIN is a French open-innovation platform dedicated to supporting innovation in oncology. For more than ten years, its… Read More
The advent of immuno-oncology has necessitated changes in the types of animal models used in oncology drug discovery. Syngeneic models — inbred mice bearing an engrafted tumour derived from a genetically identical mouse strain — are invaluable preclinical research tools that enable tumour studies in the context of a complete… Read More
After decades of no luck, scientists have finally found a way to target the KRAS mutation – a common mutation found in several hard-to-treat cancers – according to a new study funded by Cancer Research UK and Wellcome. By targeting two components of the KRAS signalling pathway, a new drug was much… Read More
A new experimental drug could offer a promising approach to treating men with advanced prostate cancer which does not respond to existing treatments, or develops resistance to them, researchers report. The study reveals the chemical structure of a new targeted drug known as CCS1477 and its method of action –… Read More
New research from UHN’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC) shows statins, commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, may also protect the heart from damaging side-effects of early breast cancer treatment. Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an observational study… Read More
A new study funded by Cancer Research UK shows that the immune response to COVID-19 is the same in people with solid tumours compared to those without cancer. However, blood cancer patients varied in their ability to respond to the virus, with many unable to shake off the virus for… Read More
Activating an immune signalling pathway best known for fighting viral and bacterial infections can boost the ability of genetically engineered T cells to eradicate breast cancer in mice, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine… Read More
ONA Therapeutics, Absolute Antibody and RIC – three leading European companies in the biotech landscape – have been awarded a Eurostars grant for a two-year project that will develop a proprietary biological drug with a unique mode of action for the treatment of various types of metastatic cancers. Taking the… Read More
Scientists have created a three-dimensional map of a complex of molecules that plays a fundamental role in life – and which when it goes wrong is linked to increased sensitivity to viral infections and neurodegenerative diseases. Their research has revealed the structure of the protein complex in human cells in… Read More
