Celldex’s vaccine against the mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRvIII), reduced the risk of death from the disease by 47% in a 73-patient randomized Phase 2 study called ReACT. In addition, the survival rate at two years was 25% for patients given the vaccine versus none in the control group. It marks the first time an immunotherapy treatment has improved survival in a randomized trial of glioblastoma patients, researchers said. It is also among the first cancer vaccines to show a survival benefit. Continue reading
Tag Archives: cancer
CD40 Antibody for Immunotherapy of Cancer Licensed by Janssen from Alligator
Janssen Biotech acquired a worldwide license to Alligator Bioscience’s Phase I immunotherapy ADC-1013, an agonistic monoclonal antibody that targets CD40, an immuno-stimulatory receptor found on antigen-presenting cells, which can spur an increase in T cells attacking a tumor. Continue reading
Two New Drugs Effective in Kidney Cancer – Opdivo and Cometriq
Opdivo (nivolumab – BMS) and Cometriq (cabozantinib -Exelixis) demonstrated positive results in studies of patients with kidney cancer. Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults, accounting for more than 100,000 deaths annually. Globally, the five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with metastatic, or advanced kidney cancer, is 12.1 percent. Continue reading
Lycera’s ROR-gamma agonists for cancer immunotherapy
Celgene and Lycera entered into a $105MM collaboration on its RORϒ agonists for the treatment of cancer, as well as LYC-30937, an oral gut-directed ATPase modulator now in early-stage clinical studies. LYC-30937 is designed to treat IBD without global immune suppression. Continue reading
Cancer diagnostics in clinical use
Diagnostics that not only diagnose cancer, but also help select the appropriate therapy and monitor response are a mainstay in modern oncology, and their use is growing. Precision medicine, identifying genetic markers of disease and designing treatments to exploit these, is the essence of targeted cancer therapy. Continue reading