Abpro Corp. has entered into a strategic partnership with Celltrion Holdings Co. Ltd. for ABP-102, a bispecific antibody therapy for patients with HER2+ cancer, including breast, gastric and pancreatic cancers.
For people with the grim diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the news may have gotten just a shade brighter. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center found that using 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) tracer with positron emission tomography (PET) provides a preoperative predictor of tumor response to chemotherapy and survival in patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The finding could change recommended practice for one of the deadliest forms of cancer and improve outcomes for patients.
Astellas Pharma Inc. has described new quinazoline GTPase KRAS (G12D mutant) degradation inducers reported to be useful for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. An exemplified compound degraded KRAS(G12D) mutant expressed in human pancreatic AsPC-1 cancer cells (DC50 = 37 nM) in ELISA assays. An exemplified compound degraded KRAS(G12D) mutant expressed in human pancreatic AsPC-1 cancer cells (DC50 = 37 nM) in ELISA assays. It inhibited 3D anchorage-independent proliferation of KRAS(G12D) mutant-positive AsPC-1 cancer cells (IC50 = 23 nM) in Celltiter-Glo assays.
Immunovia AB is progressing a study evaluating its Immray Pancan-d blood test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer in patients with new onset type 2 diabetes. Studies have found that type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor for developing pancreatic cancer, and the screening of molecular biomarkers may help patients access treatment before they develop symptoms. The company’s lab-developed test (LDT) measures nine serum biomarkers that, when combined in an algorithm, can detect pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Prognomiq Inc. secured access to 800,000 anonymized biological samples for analysis and detection of dynamic cancer biomarkers as part of a new partnership struck with Kahn-Sagol-Maccabi (KSM), the research and innovation center of Maccabi Healthcare Services, Israel’s largest health maintenance organization. The partnership will enable the creation of a biomarker platform the organizations hope will facilitate early diagnosis and improved outcomes for cancer patients using Prognomiq’s multiomics platform.
In the last decade, Bayer AG and Novartis AG have shown that radiopharmaceutical technology can produce marketable drugs, with Xofigo (radium-223 dichloride) and Lutathera (lutetium [177Lu] oxodotreotide), respectively approved for prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.
Medi-Globe GmbH, in conjunction with the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire (IHU) in Strasbourg, France, is developing new artificial intelligence (AI) software for the detection of pancreatic disease. The Rohrdorf Germany-based company just completed a first-in-human trial of this AI tool during an endoscopic ultrasound examination performed at the Institute of Image-Guided Surgery at IHU.
Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have turned pancreatic cancer’s immunosuppressive properties, and mechanisms, against itself. The team have used the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes as a delivery vehicle for tetanus toxoid protein, a highly immunogenic antigen that is used in childhood tetanus vaccinations. In mouse models of pancreatic cancer, treatment reduced both primary tumors and metastases, and extended survival.
Biological Dynamics Inc.’s Verita platform correctly identified 96% of patients with stage I pancreatic cancer, a study in Nature Communications Medicine demonstrated. The platform uses protein biomarkers present in extracellular vesicles and showed an overall 71% sensitivity and 99.5% specificity in pathologically confirmed stage I and II pancreatic, ovarian and bladder cancer.
