Researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute and collaborators had previously demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of an autologous whole tumor cell vaccine, named rWTC-MBTA, to prevent primary tumor growth and enhance mouse survival in a colon carcinoma model. The vaccine is composed of irradiated entire tumor cells (rWTC) pulsed with mannan-BAM (a pathogen-associated molecular pattern), TLR agonists and anti-CD40 antibody (MBTA).
Half of patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer develop metastases in the central nervous system (CNS), even while receiving HER2-directed therapies.
After CAR T-cell immunotherapy for leukemia, some children have a longer remission because the engineered cells remain active and control or prevent the growth of new tumor cells. A new collaborative study has found that these persistent cells expressed certain genes that could be identified through a transcriptional signature. The finding could explain why the treatment does not work in some patients, and potentially help to improve it, reducing relapses.
3M Innovative Properties Co. has synthesized immune response modifiers (IRMs) and their conjugates reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer and viral infections.
Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and affiliated organizations have provided details on the discovery and preclinical evaluation of [64Cu]NODAGA-PEG4-SL-022-GGS, a novel small peptide imaging agent for evaluating CD38 expression.
A new academic and commercial collaboration between The Institute of Cancer Research, the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge, IDIBELL) and Vivan Therapeutics (My Personal Therapeutics Ltd.) seeks to create cancer drugs less prone to drug resistance, with a particular focus on drugs that could target KRAS.
National Institute of Pharmaceutical R&D Co. Ltd. has divulged heterocyclic compounds acting as RAC-α serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT1; PKB α), AKT2 (PKB β) and AKT3 (PKB γ) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer.
Salarius Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application to initiate a phase I trial with SP-3164 in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Crossbow Therapeutics Inc. has launched with US$80 million in series A funding. The financing will allow Crossbow to advance the development of novel therapies that potently target peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complexes on cancer cells, using antibodies that mimic T-cell receptors (TCR).
Most drug developers working in the immunotherapy space focus on existing therapeutic targets when developing cancer drugs, optimizing ways of drugging them via engineering modalities such as CAR T-cell approaches, CRISPR editing or antibody-drug conjugates that deliver toxic payloads. The angle of one company – Cartography Biosciences – is the opposite to this. Its modus operandi is to pinpoint the immunological targets first, leveraging tools that already exist, before building therapies around them.
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