Scientists in the U.K. have reacted with dismay to the announcement that the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is to close, 22 years after it was set up to coordinate the efforts of industry, government research agencies and medical charities that sponsor and fund clinical trials.
Later this year, Mendus AB plans to move its allogeneic cell-based cancer vaccine, vididencel, into a phase II combination trial with oral azacitidine to evaluate the regimen’s potential as a maintenance therapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
The dose-escalation portion of Black Diamond Therapeutics Inc.’s phase I study of BDTX-1535 for treating non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) produced strong data that moved the market in a big way.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s Lytgobi (futibatinib) for unresectable biliary tract cancer harboring fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) gene fusions that has progressed after chemotherapy.
Carthera SA raised €37.5 million (US$40 million) in a series B funding round that will allow the company to embark on the first pivotal trial of its Sonocloud technology. The Sonocloud-9 is the only implantable ultrasound device that can repeatedly open the blood-brain barrier and deliver effective treatment in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, Frédéric Sottilini, CEO of Carthera, told BioWorld.
Nextgen Bioscience Co. Ltd. has identified ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family member 2 (ENPP2; autotaxin) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, fibrosis, cardiovascular, inflammatory, respiratory, metabolic, eye and renal disorders, among others.
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. has announced clinical trial approval by China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the antibody drug JMT-203, being developed by the company’s Shanghai JMT-Bio Technology Co. Ltd. subsidiary for cancer cachexia.
Osteosarcomas (OS) are the most common malignant bone tumor. The disease originates within the fastest growing areas of the long bones of children and young adults, where the histologic hallmark of OS is malignant bone formation (osteoid). Improvements in treatments have proven difficult to date with metastatic OS remaining a bleak prognosis routinely leading to lung metastases to ultimately cause death.
The imaging and advanced guidance for workflow optimization in interventional oncology consortium (IMAGIO) consortium of clinical partners in the EU, led by Royal Philips NV, has been awarded $26 million under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) to carry out research into less invasive cancer therapies.