The anticipated spill-out of clinical results from the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago continued to, well, spill out as the first part of the week wore on, with outcomes due from various quarters in experiments against a particularly devilish form of cancer: pancreatic. Few tumor types bear a development path as casualty-strewn, other than melanoma - which also promised to yield encouraging news from ASCO. (See BioWorld Insight, May 24, 2010.)

NAPA, Calif. - Tucked amid vineyards at a resort far enough from town that attendees must either drive or take a shuttle for a selection of restaurants, C21 BioVentures accomplishes what it intends: To conduct a small, intense partnering conference that's cozy to the point of isolated.

As the industry braces for an onslaught of data from the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting next week in Chicago, debate continues about the chances that an approvable therapy will emerge for one of the deadlier, more challenging cancers - melanoma.

Waiting for FDA word on the approval of denosumab in postmenopausal osteoporosis, Amgen Inc. as expected has filed a biologics license application seeking approval of the highly touted subcutaneous RANK ligand inhibitor in preventing skeletal-related events (SREs) in advanced cancer patients. The news was disclosed late Friday afternoon. (BioWorld Today)