PellePharm announced its launch today, with financing from BridgeBio Pharma. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is developing a topical gel to treat basal cell carcinoma, including the tumors that result from Gorlin syndrome. The company’s topical inhibitor compound, patidegib, acts on the hedgehog pathway – a signaling pathway that transmits cellular information for adult tissue […]
Oncology
Researchers develop targeted, photodynamic nanoparticles for tumor therapy
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed photodynamic nanoparticles that can effectively target deep-tissue tumors. The team’s work was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. “This study signals a major step forward in photodynamic therapy by developing a new class of NIR-absorbing biodegradable organic nanoparticles for a highly effective […]
Loaded nanocarriers deliver drugs and imaging molecules to tumors
Researchers from the University of Washington developed synthetic nanocarriers to encase chemotherapy drugs and deliver them directly to the tumor site, avoiding healthy tissue. The team’s work was published in the journal Small. The nanocarrier is a hybrid of synthetic materials designed to allow the system to carry drugs and fluorescent particles to stain the tumor for […]
Galera adds $15m for Series B
Galera Therapeutics said today that it landed $15 million for its severe oral mucositis treatment, bringing its Series B financing total to $57 million. Sofinnova Ventures led the round, joining existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Novartis Venture Fund, Novo Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Enso Ventures and Galera Angels. The Malvern, Penn.-based company said the proceeds will be […]
Engineered sugar clusters could enable targeted drug delivery
Researchers have developed a method to engineer sugar clusters attached to proteins or lipids, called glycan complexes, to target particular organs of the body. A team from the Riken Biofunctional Synthetic Chemistry Laboratory in Japan and Kazan Federal University in Russia published their work in Advanced Science. The engineered sugar clusters could lead to glycocluster-based diagnostic tools with […]
Navidea deals NA Lymphoseek rights to Cardinal Health in $310m deal
Navidea Biopharmaceuticals (NYSE:NAVB) said today that it inked a definitive asset purchase agreement with Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) for its Lymphoseek product. Dublin, Ohio-based Navidea said it’s due to receive $80 million at closing for the lymphatic mapping and lymph node biopsy product, plus the opportunity for $230 million in milestone payments through 2026. More than $20 […]
Immunovaccine’s targeted ovarian cancer therapy wins orphan drug status in EU
Immunovaccine Inc. said today that the European Medicines Agency granted orphan drug designation for its immunotherapy candidate for ovarian cancer in the EU. Orphan drug designation is granted to medicines intended for disease with a prevalence no greater than 5 in 10,000 people. According to the Nova Scotia-based company, ovarian cancer affects 3 per 10,000 […]
Topical immunotherapy combo effective against early skin cancer
Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School have shown that a combination of 2 topical drugs can trigger an immune response against precancerous skin lesions. The study was published yesterday in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. The 2 drugs, calcipotriol and 5-fluorouracil, have been in use for years – topical 5-fluorouracil is […]
Restoring blood vessels to tumor cells aids delivery of chemotherapy
Researchers from the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology in Belgium say they have found a way to repair dysfunctional blood vessels which allow cancer cells to escape from the blood stream and reach other organs, and which play a vital role in cancer metastasis. In a study published in Cancer Cell, researchers describe how they manipulated the blood […]
Athenex, Lilly ink clinical collaboration for 1st oral formulation of paclitaxel
Athenex said today that it inked a clinical collaboration deal to conduct a phase Ib study for its oral form of paclitaxel, Oraxol, with Eli Lilly‘s (NYSE:LLY) vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2 antagonist, Cyramza. Patients with advanced gastric and esophageal cancer will be enrolled in 2017 at sites in the U.S. and Asia, where […]
