Biotech Strategy Blog

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

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Posts by MaverickNY

One swallow does not a summer make

There’s a lot of hype and noise of late surrounding the Iovance TIL therapy licensed under a CRADA from the NCI based on Dr Steven Rosenberg’s work.

Another Brick in the Wall for TIL therapies?

A few years ago many acadenics vehemently argued that TILs wouldn’t go much further than metastatic melanomas (cutaneous or uveal) and certainly there were dramatic responses seen from the before, during and after photos, as anyone who attended AACR in 2013 will attest.

Seven years on, the TIL topic is back in fashion again – is the hype justified or are the plaudits based more on a wing and a prayer?

We have some firm views to share on this topic…

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights and commentary emerging from the first annual AACR20 virtual meeting subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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AACR20 – Ten New Directions in Early Cancer Drug Development

It is becoming increasing obvious in these challenging times as the pandemic spreads globally that no corner of the earth (except perhaps the Antartica) is being left untouched.  As lockdowns begin or continue depending the phase the spread is at, this also has numerous implications for clinical trials, both academic and company funded studies alike.

Which direction should we be considering for early anti-cancer therapeutics?

One of the broader effects of the coronavirus pandemic likely means we won’t see much new data on many of the clinical trials after the currently scheduled presentations for AACR, ASCO, ESMO and ASH for a while yet, perhaps well in to 2021, which in turn is a strong reminder if we want to see how much progress is being made then we need to look at what data is available now.

I can well imagine many folks are already completely Zoomed or WebExed out from constant online meetings dealing with the implications of the pandemic on research and clinical development, as well as what happens to new and existing trials, so the idea of listening to two days of a virtual meeting on top is probably a bit daunting for the time-challenged observers amongst you.

AACR’s virtual meeting is a wonderful opportunity for smart folks to take some careful snapshots of where we are now, and how some of the early pipeline agents are shaping up.

The good news is we while your online internal meetings continue apace, we will be posting many reviews, summaries, discussion and analysis of the data here on BSB, hopefully sparing many of the additional stress in busy times. We plan to make the process of analysis and commentary relatively easy so you can follow along with us.

For reference, you can access all of our ongoing AACR20 conference coverage here. Future posts will also be added to this magazine page as they are posted.

In our fourth AACR Preview series, we take a keen look at some additional early products in development of interest, as we continue our updates on the never ending oncology R&D journey.

We highlight 10 emerging agents in early stage development to watch out for…some are new and others we previously reviewed preclinically and have moved along in their R&D journey into the clinic, with good and bad results to think about.

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights and commentary emerging from the first annual AACR virtual meeting subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Reflections on new developments in the KRAS niche

A graceful white swan serving as an antidote the current COVID19 pandemic (black swan event)

In our the third of our AACR 2020 Preview series, we turn to the KRAS pathway to look at some new aspects, whether they be new targets, novel agents in development or even twists on the biology of the disease.

There’s quite a bit to discuss here, certainly more than I was expecting considering it was expected to be a down year by some after all the excitement of last year’s revelations and developments in the clinic!

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights and commentary emerging from the annual AACR meeting subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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AACR Preview 2 – Pathways to Success in Targeted Therapies

First in class or best in class?

Which paths will ultimately lead to success with novel targeted therapies?

Ah this question often seems a perennial one to consider at AACR annual meetings – and this year is no different in this respect.

Personally, to me, it doesn’t really matter what you claim aspirationally based on preclinical or even early phase 1 dose escalation data because… a lot can happen between then and later registrational studies.

Think about it carefully – weak efficacy, wrong tumour selection or setting, adverse event profiles, even narrow therapeutic windows can all too soon interfere and play havoc like a wrecking ball with many a well intended clinical program, especially once you start looking at combination strategies!

No, it’s not as easy as it looks sometimes.

In our latest AACR Preview series, we take a look at a number of targeted agents in development, many aimed at novel targets at are not run-of-the mill…

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights and commentary emerging from the annual AACR meeting subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Every cloud has a silver lining

And we’re off!

Rays of hope during dark days

No, no, not to the races – and certainly not to Cheltenham – but rather it’s that time of the year when the first of our annual AACR Preview series drops.  While some cancer conferences have been postponed and even cancelled, others such as AACR and ASCO are proceeding with virtual meetings, proving that even dark times can offer hints of hope.

This is good news for both young researchers and companies alike in getting data out there and shared because life goes on as time and tide wait for no man.

The actual abstracts themselves won’t be revealed until later in the month on April 27th, but for now we get a taster of this year’s truncated event since the titles available for the first virtual meeting.

Often time, this glimpse is sufficient to garner some useful clues, so what does this year hold in store for us all?

This Preview series will be in multiple parts – a review of some of the key oral sessions from the first virtual program (targeted agents, immunotherapies, cell therapies, novel targets, translational studies etc) followed by a review of the posters in the final part.

To get started, let’s take a look at some of the important presentations we can expect to hear on the first day…

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights and commentary emerging from the annual AACR meeting subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Impact of Covid–19 on Cancer Conferences

Is it really a year ago we faced battling through the crowded AACR19 poster halls?

Will life go back to normal soon and will we be going to cancer conferences this year? In this post, we’re outlining what our plans are for cancer conference coverage in 2020.

Several meetings are now virtual and others cancelled or postponed, so we’ve taken a look at the key dates for data drops and abstracts etc as this is an evolving process.

We’re particularly looking forward to the release of the abstract titles for part 1 of the AACR virtual annual meeting due later today.

Want to know more about what to expect, as well as what impact Covid–19 will have on the various cancer conferences in the spring program?

Then do check out today’s post…

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights emerging the latest trends and commentary subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Time is ticking on the bromodomain landscape

In today’s post we answer some reader mailbag questions pertaining to targeting BET/bromodomain inhibitors and what we’ve learned since our original landscape review from early 2016 when they were an emerging new class in the oncology R&D space – how time flies!

Is it time-up for the bromodomain class?

Of course, as usually happens in the targeted therapy space we see a glut of pan inhibitors trying to block everything in sight to a greater or lesser degree… we’ve see this with BRAF, FGFR, PI3K, and even KRAS inhibitors, as well as numerous others, yet these rarely turn out to be the bees knees we’re secretly looking for. Bromodomains, I have long argued, were ripe to fall in this category as well.

Instead, it is better to patiently wait for the next generation molecules where they are much more selective in their actions and matched to the tumour target we are looking to hit.

Think about the BRAFV600E vs. pan BRAF inhibitors or KRASG12C/D vs. pan KRAS inhibitors, for example, or even FGFR2 or FGFR3 vs. pan FGFR inhibitors.

The same evolution may possibly happen in the BET/bromodomain space too.

The first generation of agents seemed to hit everything – BRD1, 2, 3, 4, and often BET as well. They suffered, however, with weak efficacy largely driven by challenges with the on-target, off-tumour effects that necessarily impact the therapeutic window.

Now we are starting to learn from a more focused approach with these agents. Four years on from our original landscape review, what’s hot and what’s not? Who’s in and who’s out? In terms of the magic roundabout of oncology R&D, are there any new gems we should eagerly be watching out for?

The short answer is yes… but what are they and who owns them?

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights emerging the latest trends and commentary subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Alternative cell therapy approaches to tackling cancer

In the fourth part of our mini-series in novel targets and agents in development we turn to novel cell therapy approaches that are perhaps under the radar for many observers.

While these might seem bleak times during a pandemic, there’s always a silver lining somewhere

While much attention has been focused on antigen loss or downregulation of the target wih adoptive cell therapies, research continues to evaluate various solutions to the problem.

One obvious way is to develop dual CARs or target multiple antigen targets of relevance to the tumour type being investigated.

There are other potential solutions being looked at, both in preclinical animal models and in translational work using cells from people treated with HSCT or CAR T cell therapies.

Here, we look at an alternative immunotherapy approach, which with time may have utility in both hematologic malignancies, as well as solid tumours…

To learn more from our oncology coverage and get a heads up on insights emerging our latest analysis and commentary subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Novel Targets and Agents – Part 2

“Find a bit of beauty in the world today. Share it. If you can’t find it, create it. Some days this may be hard to do. Persevere.”  ~ Lisa B. Adams

In the first part of the review on novel targets in hematologic malignancies, we covered five key areas in detail relating to emerging new agents around BTK, BRD, BET, and E3 ligase modulators (CELMoDs).

Continuing our look at some additional novel targets and agents in early development in hematologic malignancies, in part two of this series we explore four additional areas that piqued our interest.

These mostly involve either small molecules or monoclonal antibodies.

In the next series, we shall look at emerging immunotherapy related targets, but for now there’s plenty of targeted therapies to focus on!

To learn more from our oncology coverage and get a heads up on insights emerging our latest analysis and commentary subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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How to tackle immune suppression in multiple myeloma

The annual ASH Dash often ends up with crowds waiting for the poster halls to open up – a daily scene captured from ASH19

With coronavirus and COVID–19 pretty much dominating attention and space in the global news on a daily basis lately, I am vividly reminded that not too long ago in December we attended the annual meeting at ASH in Orlando to experience busy scenes like the one on the right…

Imagine those packed crowds now in the current context – it doesn’t bear thinking about!

Which is why all of the oncology conferences we had been planning to attend this year are one-by-one postponing or outright cancelling their events until next year. This is going to create a lot of challenges for companies in terms of data release and presentations, to be sure, but what matters more is reducing the risk of the infection spread in order to limit the risk of serious cases developing.

The good news is that we do have a huge backlog of oncology data – novel targets, new agents, and emerging companies – to write about and share with our audience. There’s always a silver lining to be had if you look carefully enough.

Here’s one such example – a novel cancer target, agents in development, and an emerging company to highlight too…

To learn more from our oncology coverage and get a heads up on insights emerging our latest analysis and commentary subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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