The tumor microenvironment is critical for the ability of cancers to survive and grow, and some aspects of the microenvironment are studied, and targeted, accordingly. Tumor immunology is one of the most active areas of cancer research and has become a pillar of treatment. Others, not so much. “The nervous system is the last component of the microenvironment that people have left completely unrecognized,” Humsa Venkatesh told BioWorld. Even in brain tumors and metastases, where the presence of neurons is glaringly obvious, there has been little attention to how the two interact until recently.
For brain surgeons, the shift is the sticking point. When a surgeon opens the cranium to remove a tumor, the brain moves as much as 1 cm, making much of the pre-operative mapping of the tumor essentially useless. While the bulk of a lesion can be identified by its density, the tendrils blend into the surrounding tissue – and taking excess margins means more brain damage. Designs for Vision Inc.’s bright idea, a headlamp that illuminates a fluorescing tumor with a laser light, makes brain surgery quicker, safer and more accurate.
Low-grade gliomas with mutated isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) produced and secreted higher levels of the cytokine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) than other glioma types, which improved their antitumor immune response in animal models.
LONDON – Phoremost Ltd. has raised $46 million in an oversubscribed series B that will enable it to put clinical heft behind its claim to have developed a novel approach to finding and drugging inscrutable targets.
Bionaut Labs emerged from five years in stealth mode raising $20 million to develop Bionauts, microrobots designed to deliver therapies to treat brain disorders. The financing will support the company’s therapeutic program in glioma through preclinical development and further research and development in Huntington’s disease.
Bionaut Labs emerged from five years in stealth mode raising $20 million to develop Bionauts, microrobots designed to deliver therapies to treat brain disorders. The financing will support the company’s therapeutic program in glioma through preclinical development and further research and development in Huntington’s disease. Khosla Ventures led the financing with participation by Upfront Ventures, Revolution LLC, BOLD Capital Partners, and Compound.
Chimerix Inc., which already has COVID-19 and smallpox therapeutics in clinical trials, has acquired privately held Oncoceutics Inc., bringing ONC-201, a small-molecule dopamine receptor D2 antagonist and caseinolytic protease agonist for treating recurrent gliomas harboring the H3 K27M mutation, into the fold.
Nuvation Bio Inc. and Panacea Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Ecor1 Capital, said they will merge, with the combined company to be renamed Nuvation.
Favorable conditions in China encouraged biotech veterans Jerry Wang, Bing Yan and Lihua Zheng to co-found Anheart Therapeutics Co. Ltd. in November 2018 to focus on oncology. On Monday, the Chinese startup in-licensed a mIDH-1 inhibitor and an AXL inhibitor from Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. to expand its pipeline, less than two years after it obtained the global rights of its first asset, AB-106 (taletrectinib), from the Japanese firm to establish its footing.
Favorable conditions in China encouraged biotech veterans Jerry Wang, Bing Yan and Lihua Zheng to co-found Anheart Therapeutics Co. Ltd. in November 2018 to focus on oncology. On Monday, the Chinese startup in-licensed a mIDH-1 inhibitor and an AXL inhibitor from Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. to expand its pipeline, less than two years after it obtained the global rights of its first asset, AB-106 (taletrectinib), from the Japanese firm to establish its footing.
