Two highly publicized fundraisers based in the UK have drawn attention to an unusual practice by the Burzynski Research Institute Inc. in Houston, triggering a storm of criticism in the blogosphere. The institute charges exhorbitant fees to patients for participation in its many ongoing trials of its investigative antineoplaston cancer therapy, even though there are no randomized, controlled trials proving the effectiveness of the therapy in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Read More
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, reported last week that they have been able to induce long-lasting T-cell responses to melanoma cells by engineering not the T cells themselves, but their progenitor cells. Read More
At the IBC Antibody Engineering Conference in San Diego, X-Body Biosciences reported that it has discovered and optimized its first lead anti-angiogenesis compound, XB2202, from its DNA display and sequencing platform. The compound satisfied the requirements for a lead compound, including inhibition of receptor phosphorylation in renal carcinoma cells and inhibition of retinal pericyte migration, through its binding of platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFRB). Read More
• Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., of Bethesda, Md., said it implemented a restructuring to reduce its liabilities from $48 million to $16.5 million, removing $31.5 million through settlement, retirement and conversion. The firm said the move will strengthen its balance sheet as it accelerates its 240-patient Phase II trial of its lead dendritic cell-based vaccine in glioblastoma multiforme. Northwest also recently received clearance for a Phase III trial in prostate cancer. Read More
• Oncolytics Biotech Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, said interim Phase II data showed intravenous administration of Reolysin in combination with Gemzar (gemcitabine, Eli Lilly and Co.) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer met the study's primary endpoint. Read More
Scientists from the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the University of Tokyo have identified a new player in bone marrow that keeps blood stem cells going: Schwann cells, a type of glial, or brain support cell. Read More
