Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products with a focus on Oncology, Hematology & Immunotherapy

About MaverickNY

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Posts by MaverickNY

New Developments in Targeting Pancreatic Cancer

If there’s one area of unmet medical need highlighting the challenges of oncology drug development, it’s pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and advanced disease in particular.

Bowling ’em over with quirky data, Guv!

Recently, several research groups have published papers showing the results of preclinical studies targeting KRAS mutations in pancreatic cancer.

Could the raft of novel KRASG12D inhibitors and degraders in development have a potential therapeutic role to play?

In our latest review, we discuss what actionnable insights for drug development can be taken from this recent research, as well as some of the challenges associated with translational research in this area given the limitations of preclinical models.

Do we need to think beyond KRAS and tackle the stroma first?  In this post we highlight some companies who are already looking into this approach.

Finally, we pull this together in the context of other oncogenes like MYC and discuss how it impacts the tumour microenvironment. Targeting PDAC is complex, but the pieces of the jigsaw are gradually being put together…

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Exploring unexpected targets in brain tumours

Marooned or heading off somewhere exciting?

As we head into the long August Bank Holiday and Labor Day celebrations, I wanted to offer some stimulating, yet thought provoking topics for readers to consider.

Make no mistake the food for thought ideas described are not lightweight per se, but may offer some useful insights on glioblastoma with implications for exploring future research angles.

There are also two bonuses included: first up is some commentary on TIGIT and lastly, we highlight an impressive new tool that’s available to interested and enlightened companies, which may be of particular interest to our Pharma readers who gather market sentiments.

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The ADC merry-go-round

Unedited, unfiltered – the ‘hey, look at me!’ pink elephant really was this lurid!

It’s time for our second Preview from the World Congress in Lung Cancer being presented in Singapore next month.

In this edition we’re going to focus on the next raft of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) coming through in early development.

Do any stand out as the next big kahuna or are the numbers too glaringly garish, waiting to be knocked off their coconut shies?

In this review we review the evidence and take some stands…

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The scudding clouds of freedom

All too often the noise and attention is thrust upon the latest flashy or shiny new lures rather than on refining or redirecting the sails based upon changes in the wind patterns as more data become available.

In the book Dracula, Bram Stoker wrote:

“…the passing gleams of the moonlight between the scudding clouds crossing and passing, [are] like the gladness and sorrow of a man’s life.”

He might just as well been referring to drug company pipelines, where early stage agents rise and fall in favour as we follow their trials and tribulations from discovery and preclinical development through to evaluation in the clinic.  Success is fleeting and more often than not, many will fizzle and disappear in the blink of an eye.

Sometimes though, new information or intelligence comes together to point a different way forward.  It’s not necessarily going to be ‘better’, but like other aspects of life, taking action and moving forward is usually a sounder strategy than standing still.

Here, we look at a couple of developments that seemingly hit the skids a few years ago, but new evidence may offer some more focused direction forward…

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A flurry of new biomarkers are coming to the fore

Jockeying for position

Our latest post discusses recent updates on biomarker research across several cancer types.

These include several types of lung cancer, as well as prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and bladder cancer.

Not all the trials mentioned returned a positive result, although some were much more encouraging. Either way, there is much to learn from the analyses and offer some pointers for the future.

Also included are a dozen or so pharma or biotech companies whose work might be impacted by the findings described within. Yours could be one of them…

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Cracking the Code on a Novel Cancer Target

One of the challenging and frustrating aspects of oncology drug development is in knowing a target is tractable, yet the results with multiple early stage products are disappointing.

Yes, this really was August weather…

What I mean by this is we may see a few partial responses here and there, but nothing substantial (except toxicities) and minimal clues as to why, despite several variations on a theme being tried in the clinic.

It can look pretty bleak out there for a while, much like Scottish locks in dreary August drizzle until the sun comes out and shines a light of hope.

It can take a long slog in the basic/translational biology coupled with medicinal chemistry efforts to figure out the clues and see where a fresh can lead.

Today it’s time for one of those sort of what I call Finding Nemo kind of stories where scientists identify the right cell/right compartment to start a new tranche of compounds ready for clinical assessment.  Those phase 1/2 trials are now ongoing, but what was the mystery issue and how did they solve for it?

The added bonus is there are three or four companies already ahead in the latest rollercoaster race…

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Playing with fire

Are we playing with fire – again?

A few years ago, Dr Philippe Armand at Dana Farber used this very colourful phrase accompanied by ‘rip roaring toxicities’ when describing autoimmune type reactions his institution had seen in patients with hematologic malignancies who had received prior allo SCT (see more here).

Now we’re starting to see more evidence emerge for improved activity with next generation bispecifics accompanied by lethalities.

Finding the balance between the two is proving to be something akin to a tightrope across the Niagara Falls without a safety net.

With so many runners and riders in the IO niche, it’s often hard to tell who will be the winner

Checkpoint blockade, CAR-T cells and fusion proteins haven’t been the only ones to struggle with this challenge, since bispecifics are also an immunotherapy approach capable of inducing some potent, if unwanted immune effects.

Here we look at the challenge in the bispecific arena with a focus on some recent events…

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Opening the solid tumour CAR-T treasure chest

Yokohama, Japan

Who wants to get the inside scoop on emerging CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumours such as lung cancer?

In our latest post you can learn how scientists in China are engineering innovative multi-functional CAR-T cells to overcome challenges.

These include tumour heterogeneity and an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment.

This cutting edge research could promise to open new frontiers in solid tumour treatment and offer some directions for further advances.

Don’t miss this sneak peek on early clinical trial data…

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Wow, just wow!

Across the Puget Sound, Seattle

Yesterday we highlighted an emerging CAR-T cell therapy company in China with a different approach to hematologic malignancies.

We now turn our attention Stateside to focus on another biotech company who are parlaying solid academic research into more robust CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumours.

For too long researchers have struggled with a number of challenges in this setting from too many toxicities, lack of specificity, to too little activity or persistence.

It’s about time we changed this negative perception.

Here we look at some impressive work presented by a go-getting researcher and his lab who have some cool ideas and are quietly taking on the obstacles by storm.  He also happens to be a co-founder of an emerging biotech who benefit from their creativity…

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An emerging opportunity in the CAR-T cell therapy space

Our latest conference coverage this week comes from Seattle, which is hosting the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Spotlight on Immuno-Oncology event.

Yesterday’s sessions generated quite a few thoughts about some of the new directions the field is headed in, some of which may turn out to be more surprising than others.

While there were a few snippy comments and illusions flying around, there was also some interesting data being presented.

Here we take a look at one unexpected potential growth area, which might well throw some shade on allogeneic CARs…

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