AbbVie Oncology (NYSE:ABBV) recently joined the Dare to Dream Project, an initiative of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) focused on improving the treatment of cancer patients. The initiative is designed to accelerate the development of novel treatments for pediatric blood cancers. In the interview, Pooja Hingorani, the medical director of oncology early development at AbbVie,…

FDA has granted priority review to Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) bispecific antibody elranatamab for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). Also known as PF-06863135, the immunotherapy won breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for RRMM in November 2022. The FDA has also accepted elranatamab’s Biologics License Application (BLA) while the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has…

Interest in mRNA therapy has exploded in recent years following the development of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, but can the platform live up to the initial hype that surrounded it? More companies have announced clinical trial data from mRNA trials for conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer. mRNA, or messenger RNA, is a type of…

FDA has approved Jemperli from GSK (NYSE:GSK) for adult patients with mismatch repair-deficient or advanced endometrial carcinoma (dMMR). GSK predicts Jemperli will generate peak sales of $1.4 billion to $2.8 million. The drug is indicated for adults with dMMR-related or advanced endometrial carcinoma who have progressed after a previous platinum-containing regimen. This drug is not…

The biotech Ymmunobio has acquired ownership rights to neuronal pentraxin receptor (NPTXR) antibodies, which could promise in treating several gastrointestinal cancers. Basel, Switzerland–based Ymmunobio reached an agreement with Nagoya University in Japan in 2022 to transfer rights to the antibodies. Professor Mitsuro Kanda of Nagoya University invented the antibodies. A 2020 article published in Molecular…

A research alliance between Penn Medicine and Intel aggregated data from 6,314 glioblastoma (GBM) patients at 71 sites across six continents over three years. The study made use of federated learning – a distributed machine learning (ML) approach – to facilitate the identification of malignant brain tumors without compromising patient privacy. The research led to…

In late 2022, the FDA approved Genentech‘s Lunsumio (mosunetuzumab-axgb), a bispecific antibody for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (R/R FL) patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies. We recently caught up with Ginna Laport, VP, global head of lymphoma/CLL development franchise at Genentech, to learn more about how the drug could change the…

At the dawn of 2023, 3T Biosciences and Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) revealed a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement focused on the discovery and development of next-generation cancer therapies focused on high unmet patient needs. The alliance unites 3T Biosciences’ 3T-TRACE (T-Cell Receptor Antigen and Cross-Reactivity Engine) discovery platform and Boehringer Ingelheim‘s focus on cancer cell-directed…

After the majority of pharmaceutical companies released their earnings reports for 2022, we released our annual Pharma 50 feature detailing how the pharma landscape has evolved. Four of the five most popular pieces of content on Drug Discovery & Development were part of the Pharma 50 feature. In the past year, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) cemented its…

The FDA has approved Genentech‘s Lunsumio (mosunetuzumab-axgb), a novel bispecific antibody for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (R/R FL). The indication covers R/R FL patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.  Patients with the cancer subtype have had limited treatment options and significant morbidity and mortality.  The approval of Lunsumio is the…

At ASH 2022, Roche (SWX: ROG) subsidiary Genentech presented new data demonstrating the potential of glofitamab and mosunetuzumab, its investigational CD20xCD3 T-cell engaging bispecific antibodies, as fixed-duration, off-the-shelf treatment options for two types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) – large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL), respectively. “The new data demonstrated durable and impressive patient…

Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Arcus Biosciences (NYSE:RCUS) are touting positive results from the fourth interim analysis of the randomized, open-label Phase 2 ARC-7 study in patients with first-line metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Patients in the arms who received the investigational Fc-silent anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody…

GSK (LSE/NYSE:GSK) has shared positive headline results from a planned interim analysis of Part 1 of a Phase 3 study of adults with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. In the study, patients in the Jemperli (dostarlimab) arm also received chemotherapy (carboplatin-paclitaxel) followed by Jemperli alone. The study tested the treatment regimen against chemotherapy with…

The mRNA-focused biotech BioNTech (Nasdaq:BNTX) has partnered with Ryvu Therapeutics (Warsaw Stock Exchange:RVU), which specializes in novel small molecule therapies for emerging oncology targets. In the deal, Mainz, Germany–based BioNTech will have an exclusive global license to commercialize Ryvu’s stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist portfolio. The companies will also partner to develop small molecule…

FDA has requested that GSK plc (LSE/NYSE:GSK) withdraw the relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma drug Blenrep (belantamab mandolin-blmf) from the U.S. market. GSK announced in a statement that it has initiated the process. On November 7, the company announced that the drug did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) in the Phase 3 DREAMM-3…

Cambridge, UK–based AstraZeneca (Nasdaq:AZN) has announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has recommended a new marketing authorization of Imfinzi (durvalumab). The recommendation specifically refers to the first-line treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic biliary tract cancer (BTC) in combination with chemotherapy (gemcitabine with cisplatin).…

The investigational bispecfic antibody elranatamab has won breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). Also known as PF-06863135, erlanatamab is a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted T-cell redirecting immunotherapy. BCMA is highly expressed on the surface of multiple myeloma (MM) cells. Elranatamab is also designed to target the CD3 receptor…

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recently awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three individuals for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. Among them was Carolyn Bertozzi, a scientific advisor to Shasqi (San Francisco). The oncology company has developed a novel platform to localize and activate cancer ‘protodrugs’ at a tumor…

The Galien Foundation has selected Regeneron’s (Nasdaq:REGN) Inmazeb (atoltivimab, maftivimab and odesivimab-ebgn) as the best biotechnology product of 2022 and Amgen’s (Nasdaq:AMGN) Lumakras as the best pharmaceutical agent. The organization announced the news last week as part of the Prix Galien USA 2022 awards series in a ceremony in New York City. The antibody cocktail Inmazeb…

GSK (LSE/NYSE:GSK) said that the PERLA Phase 2 study of dostarlimab met its endpoint of objective response rate in non-small cell lung cancer patients. The study used Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria to compare dostarlimab against Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer who also received chemotherapy.…

Janssen (NYSE:JNJ) is working to highlight the importance of cancers such as leukemias, lymphomas and multiple myeloma for Blood Cancer Awareness Month in September. Some 1.5 million people in the U.S. are currently living with or in remission from blood cancers, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Roughly 35,000 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma…

Ensysce Biosciences CEO Lynn Kirkpatrick oversees the development of novel medicines to reduce or eliminate prescription drug abuse. The La Jolla, California-based company’s oxycodone prodrug candidate PF614 is now in a Phase 2 clinical trial. It is designed to offer similar pain relief as prescription opioids with a limited risk of drug abuse and addiction.…

Dr. Susan Galbraith, executive vice president of oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, says her entry into the pharmaceutical industry was serendipitous. “I always wanted to be a doctor, and during medical school, I was fascinated by the science behind how cancer happens and what we can do to better treat it,” she said. After following this…

Brentford, UK–headquartered GSK (LSE/NYSE:GSK) reported long-term data from the phase 3 PRIMA study indicating that the PARP inhibitor Zejula (niraparib) promoted a sustained and clinically meaningful progression-free survival (PFS) benefit in ovarian cancer patients. The survival benefit was evident across biomarker subgroups, including BRCAm, HRd and HRp. Patients in the HRd subgroup had a 48%…

The risk of cancer deaths has fallen steadily in recent years. Before the pandemic, the risk of death from cancer fell roughly 2% annually from 2015 to 2019. In the 1990s, the risk of cancer death fell approximately 1% each year, according to the American Cancer Society. In addition to improved screening and diagnosis, cancer…