Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts from the ‘Hematology’ category

ASH18 Highlights from Day 3

What latest ASH18 data jumps to our attention?

San Diego – It’s time to put another dozen studies in the spotlight and review what we can learn from the existing data with a view on where we’re headed in the future.

Today’s list covers a whole gamut of targeted therapies, bispecific antibodies, CAR-T cell therapies and other immunotherapies, what’s more we have a range of targets in the list too, and not the obvious ones either.

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

ASH18 Highlights from Day 1

What a wet wet wet start to the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting being held in San Diego – quite a change from the snow in Atlanta at last year’s event!

Either way, does it precipitate a windfall of excellent data?

A lull between the rain – a soggy day in San Diego

Here are some of our early highlights, which include updates on neoantigen vaccines, novel approaches with CAR T cell therapies, NK cell therapies, targeted therapies and more…

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

ASH18 Preview 2 Late Breaking Abstracts

ASH is heading to San Diego!

Every year we eagerly await the American Society of Hematology (ASH) late breaking abstract reveal.  They can be sublime or disappointing, depending on the data available.

This year the conference is back in sunny San Diego.

We’ve already created some order from the chaos of the initial data dump and highlighted some key abstracts to watch out for in our first Preview post in the ASH18 series.

This time we look at what’s in store and – more importantly – what can we learn about the chosen LBA selections? What sort of caveats do we need to be mindful of?

It turns out that that’s quite a bit to think about…

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

Creating order from the ASH18 data dump

Creating some semblance of order out of the ASH18 abstracts!

This is the first of our ASH 2018 preview series and looks beyond the obvious to many off-the-reservation type of abstracts, mostly within what can be classed as early new product development of Developmental Therapeutics.

In other words, what’s coming down the pike that looks intriguing, worrying or potentially useful?

There are likely to be a few obvious candidates, but also quite a few surprises in store for the unwary…

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

New Insights on BCMA BiTEs and CAR T cell therapies in Myeloma

The B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is an oncogenic protein target relevant to multiple myeloma that we have been following for a while on BSB, including an expert interview with a global myeloma KOL at ASH last December as part of a wide ranging discussion and deeper look at the Future of Multiple Myeloma.

San Diego

This weekend I was following a myeloma workshop where quite a bit of teasing early data was presented that may give us clues about what’s likely to be interesting at ASH18.

I wasn’t the only one doing this judging by a raft of reader questions that came in, particularly on the topic of BCMA and other emerging targets in this disease.

Is one BCMA better or worse than another? Will antibodies take a BiTE out of the CAR-T cell therapy noise? We take a careful look at these issues to explore what’s what and what really matters in this niche.

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

Armored CAR-T cell therapies and commercial threats from the East

This is an extended update that I’ve been planning to write for some time, however, there was always some shiny new clinical data to highlight and discuss so it sadly stayed on the backburner!

Is the sun rising on CAR-T cell threats from the East?

Over the next few weeks, we will post some meaty reviews on various topics pertinent to cancer research R&D. They might involve a particular tumour type that is seeing extensive developments, an important or difficult target, or even a particular category approach, for example.

In the first of this new mini-series, we take a look at the CAR-T cell therapy niche and highlight some important new developments that are well worth watching out for.

Things are a-changin’ very rapidly here, including numerous R&D threats from the east (China) so it’s a good opportunity to take stock and look forward.

Here we go – hold on to your hats…

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

Development of Next Generation CAR T cell therapies

Now that at two CAR T cell therapies have been approved by the FDA in two indications, what does the future hold for new developments in both hematologic malignancies and solid tumours?

It was astonishing to explore the poster halls at AACR last month and see just how many new players and targets are emerging left, right and centre.

Last week we highlighted an up and coming new player on the scene, Mustang Bio, but what about the original pioneers in this niche and what are they up to these days?

To answer this question, we tracked down Dr Renier Brentjens at Memorial Sloan Kettering while in Chicago to learn more about his latest work and where he sees the future of CAR T cell therapy heading. It makes for a very interesting, and at times, surprising read…

To learn more and get a heads up on our latest thought leader interview and oncology insights, subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

This content is restricted to subscribers

An up and coming new player in CAR T cell therapy

At the recent AACR meeting in Chicago one thing that was a surprise was how many new players seem to be emrging in the CAR-T cell space, not to mention the plethora of targets being evaluated preclinically in both hematologic malignancies and solid tumours.

The CAR-T cell niche is becoming very competitive and gritty

If we thought the market was becoming competitive before with less than a dozen players, imagine how crowded it will get once many of the unknowns start to make their mark?

This situation also presents many challenges and opportunities for the new entrants, not just in terms of merely identifying new targets and preclinical research, but also in the need for quality control and manufacturing expertise plus clinical development.

We should also remember that immunotherapy is designed not to target the tumour per se but unleashes the immune system on the tumour. This means that lessons from one approach (e.g. checkpoint therapy) can be applied to another (e.g. CAR-T cell therapy) and vice versa.

Yesterday, we discussed CD123 from the perspective of a bispecific company, what about approaching the target with a CAR-T cell therapy? What other alternative targets are out that that may be useful to investigate in the clinic?

We decided to explore these issues through the lens of one of the up and coming players in the CAR-T cell niche and find out more about what they are doing, how they see things evolving in this dynamic environment and what their path to market strategy is…

To learn more from our latest thought leader interview and get a heads up on our oncology insights, subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

This content is restricted to subscribers

Are fast or slow CARs better for the future?

Salt Lake City, Utah – The CAR T cell therapy niche has certainly provided plenty of controversy, highlights and lowlights over the last decade or so, although much of the mainstream attention has really only surfaced in the last couple of years.

Gone skiing?

For those interested in this space, there is a short synopsis of the BMT Tandem 2018 plenary session that took place this weekend and simultaneously published in the ASBMT journal (See: Perales et al., 2018):

“Building a Safer and Faster CAR: Seatbelts, Airbags, and CRISPR” 

While no one doubts that we have a need for safer CARs to reduce or ameliorate severe toxicities (the debate here is what are the best ways to achieve that in the clinic), it remains unclear whether a fast or slow approach is the optimal way forward in terms of efficacy.

In this post, we take a look at new clinical and scientific findings that may pave the way forward for the future in the CAR T cell space through the lens of several different academic institutions…

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

This content is restricted to subscribers

Future of CAR T Cell Therapy for Leukemia and Lymphoma

Salt Lake City – at the 2018 BMT Tandem meeting (Twitter: #BMTTandem18) the combined annual meeting of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) and Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), one of the presentations of note today was a 7am breakfast symposium entitled:

“Realizing the Promise of CAR T cell Therapy for Leukemia and Lymphoma: Implications for Long-term Care in the Era of Stem Cell Transplantation.”

Cancer cells in culture Source: Dr Cecil Fox, National Cancer Institute

This educational session supported by grants from Kite/Gilead and Novartis, featured two BMT transplant experts with hands-on experience of CAR T cell trials: Dr Stephan Grupp (@GruppSteve) from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Dr Krishna Komanduri (@drkomanduri) from the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

We’ve previously interviewed both Dr Grupp and Dr Komanduri on BSB, so were keen to hear how leading transplanters view the CAR T landscape now that two therapies have been approved by the FDA, and how they think this approach will integrate with transplants, and which patients will benefit most from this therapy.

Subscribers can log-in to read the take-homes we took from this session or if you didn’t make it to Salt Lake City, can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

This content is restricted to subscribers

error: Content is protected !!