Critically shortened telomeres are known to be a key limiting factor in successful CAR T-cell immunotherapy, with cells from older patients tending to have shorter telomeres with reduced dividing capacity. As such, these cells are unable to fully eliminate malignancies and provide durable and persistent protection against cancer. So, what if you could lengthen these DNA-protein structures found at the end of chromosomes during the ex-vivo manufacturing of CAR T cells, i.e., before they are put back into the body, so increasing their potency against disease? Newly-launched firm Telos Biotech – a subsidiary company of Cambrian Bio – believes you can, with its patent-protected recombinant protein, Telovance, promising to shake up the cell therapy field.

Dermasensor Inc.’s elastic scattering spectroscopy device appears to have solved one of the more challenging issues in dermatology—early detection of skin cancers in individuals with darker skin tones. The device demonstrated very high sensitivity across all skin cancer types compared to histopathological exams with minimal variation between Fitzpatrick skin type groups in an analysis of the DERM-SUCCESS trial.

Genprex Inc. announced that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to the company's lead drug candidate, Reqorsa immunogene therapy (quaratusugene ozeplasmid, GPX-001), for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Reqorsa contains a plasmid that expresses the tumor suppressor gene TUSC2, the expression of which is reduced or not present in SCLC.