For the last 20 years, Pamela Contag has studied cancer. And in that time, the world’s understanding of cancer has changed dramatically. “I remember when people were saying ‘One gene, one protein,” which we now know is wrong,” she told Drug Delivery Business News. “And then we thought cancer was a disruption in proliferation and really […]
Immunotherapy
TapImmune adds cell therapy to peptide vaccine portfolio with Marker Therapeutics merger
TapImmune (NSDQ:TPIV) expanded its immuno-oncology capabilities today with a deal to acquire Marker Therapeutics and its clinical-stage, multi-antigen T cell therapy platform. Details regarding merger-related financing were not disclosed, but TapImmune said it is in talks with a syndicate of institutional investors to fund the company until 2020. “I believe that the new therapies we are […]
OncoSec to combine ImmunoPulse device with Merck’s immunotherapy in breast cancer trial
OncoSec Medical (NSDQ:ONCS) expanded its relationship with Merck (NYSE:MRK) today, announcing a deal to combine its ImmunoPulse IL-12 device with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda, in a Phase II trial of patients with triple negative breast cancer. The trial is slated to study the drug-device combination in patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic cancer who have failed […]
J&J’s Janssen acquires cancer-killing virus tech
Johnson & Johnson‘s (NYSE:JNJ) Janssen Biotech said today that it agreed to acquire BeneVir Biopharm and its T-Stealth oncolytic virus platform. The privately-held biopharmaceutical company engineers cancer-killing viruses that are designed to infect and destroy cancer cells. Janssen plans to develop BeneVir’s preclinical candidates for the treatment of solid tumor cancers. According to the terms […]
Gilead inks $90m deal with Verily to create “molecular map” of inflammatory disease
Gilead Sciences (NSDQ:GILD) is reportedly slated to pay Alphabet’s Verily Life Sciences $90 million over three years to analyze cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and lupus-related diseases. By probing immune cells from patients involved in Gilead’s clinical trials, the companies hope to glean a better understanding of the immunological signatures of RA, […]
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Illumina to develop companion diagnostics for immunotherapies
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) is joining forces with Illumina (NSDQ:ILMN) to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests to support Bristol’s portfolio of cancer drugs. The companies announced last week that they plan to develop an assay to measure predictive genomic biomarkers, like tumor mutation burden, that could help doctors identify patients that will benefit from Bristol’s immunotherapies. “Through our […]
OncoSec looks to boost effects of immunotherapy with intratumoral delivery
Thousands of cancer patients have been treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors since the first of its kind was approved in 2011. The product is designed to block the production of proteins that prevent the body’s immune system from acting in the presence of cancer. Although checkpoint inhibitors hold immense promise for some patients, many fail to […]
EU committee backs dosing changes for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy
A committee for the European Union’s pharmaceutical regulatory agency backed changes to the dosing schedule for Bristol-Myers Squibb‘s (NYSE:BMY) Opdivo cancer drug, the company touted today. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended that the European Commission approve a dosing schedule of 480-mg infused over 60 minutes every four weeks as an option […]
Novartis, Harvard team up to develop immunotherapy drug-delivery systems
Novartis (NYSE:NVS), Harvard University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are teaming up to develop the next generation of implantable and injectable biomaterials designed to delivery immunotherapies, the group reported today. Researchers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have worked for years to create systems that provide targeted, sustained delivery of immuno-oncology products. Now, Novartis […]
Inovio Pharmaceuticals logs Q4 earnings, sales beat
Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:INO) topped sales and earnings estimates on Wall Street yesterday with its fourth quarter and full year results. The Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based company posted a net loss of -$21.5 million on sales of $8.8 million for the 3 months ended Dec. 31, for bottom-line growth of 17.9% on sales growth of 3.5% compared with […]