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

The battle of protein degraders versus inhibitors continues apace

To simply say, “it’s complicated!” is a often bit of an understatement in cancer research.

Imagine any advanced cancer in the refractory setting might have multiple changes and defects driving oncogenic activity, which makes targeting just one or even two of them somewhat limiting in terms of the potential impact on outcomes.

Then there’s the whole separate debate of which approach to a given target is the best one – a small molecule degrader or an inhibitor or an antibody?

The best way to tackle these issues is to develop a detailed roadmap with various key landmarks identified, plus flags highlighting areas for further investigation.

Perhaps an underrated aspect of oncology research is the increasing use of chemical probes (degraders or small molecules) to explore the underlying biology in order to understand what needs to be done next in the form of resistance mechanisms or synergies, for example.

The findings generated from this research could then lead to the development of next generation pipeline agents or suggest novel combination approaches to evaluate, which may not have been obvious at first sight.

In this latest post, we take a look at various examples using protein degraders and small molecules though the lens of select patient populations, various tumour targets, and even mechanisms of resistance…

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Can a monoDAC hit the groove against IMiDs and CELMoDs?

The groovy C4T Office

As we continue our in-depth post AACR21 coverage, it’s time for part two in the protein degradation series with a look at C4 Therapeutics and what we can learn from their preclinical data presentation of CFT7455, where they aim to selectively destroy disease-causing proteins in multiple myeloma and lymphomas through degradation of IKZF1/3.

Also included is the second half of an interview with their charismatic CSO, Dr Stew Fisher where we discuss degraders, glues, IMiDs and CELMoDs…

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A twist in chemical moeity

These bunches in nature often remind me of ball and spoke chemical structures

One of the hot topics at the recent AACR meeting was undoubtedly protein degradation, including the PROTACs from Arvinas, monoDACs from C4 Therapeutics and IRAKIMiD from Kymera, not to mention a bunch of other targets.

Certainly there’s plenty of science to review for a new mini-series with a lot to unpack from each.

In the first part of this new series we focus on Arvinas and what we can learn from the details provided, plus an in-depth expert interview.

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The Future of Cell and Gene Therapies

Who’s going to be flying high in the cell and gene therapy niche and why?

It’s time to switch horses and start thinking about cell therapies again…

Essentially what we have on deck today is a bakers dozen i.e. thirteen different categories exploring the future of gene therapy and cell therapy approaches and how they might make an impact in the medium term future.

There will likely be many others coming along too – something we plan to write about from the upcoming ASGCT meeting next month.

If we take stock there’s plenty of cool or innovative ideas already being explored or about to make a splash, including one company many BSB readers may not have heard about plus a new biotech company coming out of stealth mode… who are they and what are they all about?

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Targeting Menin and the evolving landscape for NPM1-MLLr acute leukemias

We have been following the progress of small molecule inhibitors targeting the menin-chromatin interaction which leads to NPM1 mutated or MLL-rearranged acute leukemias for over a year now.

In the beginning there was Syndax and Kura Oncology, now there’s a growing list of other companies entering this niche, both big and small.

In this post we take a look at what’s new in the landscape and also explore Syndax’s updated phase 1 data announced this morning.

Where are things headed and what can we learn about the latest data drop?

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Novel approaches to cell therapies – Part 1

In the first of a two part series on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) cells, we take a look at some novel developments, not all of which are T cell based.

Can switchable CARs make a lasting impact?

Increasingly researchers are exploring the potential for novel approaches with other immune cells, as well as ways to potentially make cell therapies safer for patients using switchable technology.

What’s the skinny on these approaches and do they have some legs for the long term?

Here we take a look at some innovative ideas which caught our attention – not all of which may have a long term future…

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Highlights and commentary on key AACR21 data presentations

It’s time for some commentary and insights regarding important emerging data from the AACR meeting.

The route to success in oncology R&D is always paved with gold, after all, although big ticket acquisitions may take some of the sting out of the tail.

As always, there were some hidden gems in the AACR21 program — in the first of our post meeting critiques, we take a careful look at the what’s behind the veneer.

We have a round baker’s dozen of early new product development compounds and explore them all to find out what interesting, as well as where there are potential pointers for future challenges which may need to be addressed…

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AACR21 Preview 8 – The growing bispecific niche

The first virtual 2021 AACR annual meeting starts tomorrow in earnest and we’ll be posting throughout the conference with various highlights and analysis.

There’s an explosion of new targets, novel combinatorial partners, expanding strategies and even an increasing number of companies entering the bispecific niche beyond the regular players we have covered in the past.

In our final Preview post we’re highlighting some of the AACR21 presentations which caught our attention, the science behind them, and some of questions we hope to see answered.

Stay tuned for our conference coverage and post meeting interviews!

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5 early developments to watch out for at AACR21

In our latest AACR21 Preview — you can check out the whole series here — we turn to some intriguing new product developments coming along the pike.

For many scientists, the lure of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting isn’t about the glossy phase 1 or 2 clinical readouts, but rather about the early science.

We can think about questions such as are there any new competitors coming along in a particular niche, are there novel targets of interest which can be drugged, what’s rising in the cell therapy space, are there other cells which are seeing interest, and so on.

We cover all of these and more in this review…

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AACR21 Preview 6 Exploring a novel and early target for cancer therapeutics

What stands out as a possible new cancer target to therapeutically drug?

Every year as part of our AACR Preview series, I pick a novel target to illustrate where innovative ideas are coming to the fore based on new and often early scientific evidence.

There is also the hope they might lead to future clinical drug development and emerging pipelines.

Some of these targets can turn out to be tough to drug for various reasons, including narrow therapeutic windows limiting the dosing schedule that can be realistically achieved (bromodomains come to mind), while others lead to some intriguing compounds which end up going further than expected.

Here’s the sixth article in this year’s series where we identify and discuss an early novel target of interest…

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