HONG KONG –Shanghai-based Zai Lab Ltd. has won an approval for the first innovative treatment for glioblastoma approved by China in more than 15 years, with the National Medical Products Administration’s (NMPA) nod for Optune in combination with temozolomide for use in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM), and also as a monotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent GBM.
Dermtech Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., has had a busy couple of weeks, revealing late last month that its noninvasive melanoma detection test is available for use via telemedicine. Now, the company has unveiled first-quarter results that saw assay revenue of $0.8 million, a 238% increase from the first quarter of 2019.
How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting cancer treatment plans? Oncologists are weighing switching treatment plans, and they have many questions. That’s where Nanthealth Inc., of El Segundo, Calif., is looking to help.
LONDON – A new technique for analyzing solid tumor DNA has been shown to significantly improve scoring of mutation burden, making it possible to identify patients who will respond to immunotherapy.
Liquid biopsy startup Grail Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., has reeled in $390 million in a series D financing that included new investors Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Prior investor Illumina Inc., of San Diego, also participated in the round, as well as two unidentified backers.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian Medical Systems Inc. has joined the ranks of other companies in withdrawing its guidance even as at least one analyst saw positive news for the second quarter. For her part, BTIG’s Marie Thibault noted that the company missed on Americas oncology gross order metric, while falling short on consensus non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) by five cents.
DUBLIN – Thrive Earlier Detection Corp. and its academic and clinical collaborators have provided a first glimpse at the utility of a liquid biopsy test as a screening tool for picking up cancers in an asymptomatic population. In an interim one-year readout of data from the prospective five-year DETECT-A study in 10,000 women, an early version of Thrive’s Cancerseek test picked up 26 cancers ahead of standard-of-care screening, while the latter modality picked up another 24 cancers that Cancerseek missed.
Molecular diagnostics firm Caris Life Sciences has launched a next-generation sequencing-based assay to analyze the whole exome of 22,000 DNA genes. Known as MI Exome, it builds on the existing whole transcriptome sequencing product MI Transcriptome that analyzes 22,000 RNA genes, as well as its microbiome analysis.
The largest study to date on hypermutated gliomas has delivered new insights into their origin, as well as their response to several different treatments. Specifically, even though they are hypermutated, such tumors are unlikely to respond to PD-1 blockers.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian Medical Systems Inc. is no stranger to machine learning applications. It rolled out its first such software to guide photon-based radiotherapy treatment planning more than five years ago. Now, it’s expanding a similar approach for machine learning-driven patient matching and treatment guidance in proton treatment planning.