Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘PARP’

The Eye of the Tiger

San Diego street art

Inspired by some local San Diego street art during the AACR meeting last week, my thoughts were immediately drawn to the lyrics of the early 1980’s pop an analogy…

You might be tempted to think this is all about how cancer cells thought they had the upper hand only for oncology researchers to rise up to the challenge, drawing inspiration from the relentless spirit captured in Survivor’s classic anthem “Eye of the Tiger.”

The idea could be taken further when we consider how by harnessing innovative strategies to overcome tumour resistance and resensitise cancers to therapies, scientists are fighting their way back, taking back control and refusing to stop until they’ve secured the win…

Just like the “last known survivor” stalking its prey, the main on the street may think these novel approaches are becoming laser-focused on cancer’s vulnerabilities, refusing to let the disease maintain its grip.

Except it is not. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Many in the field (myself included) wince at the idea of people with cancer fighting a ‘battle’ with the disease.

Instead, the analogy is much more about the biotech industry and how companies compete to gain an edge in a tough and highly competitive business:

It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival.

Are Tango Theraeputics up for the challenge?

Let’s find out…

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WCLC21 Preview of key data to watch out for

Time for some new directions in lung cancer?

It seems only a few months ago we covered WCLC20 and here we are again with another lung cancer conference.  This is because the pandemic certainly made an impact last year in more ways than one since the meeting was split into two, with the second half of the sessions being showcased in January.

This time around we highlight quite a few presentations on the IO and KRAS related pathway fronts, as well as some updates on various targeted therapies – with a few unexpected surprises in store.

There are also some important genomic and biomarker presentations to watch out for…

BSB subscribers can read more on our latest cancer conference preview  – you can log-in or click to access our latest expert interview.

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AACR21 Preview 5 Promising new developments in the PARP field and beyond

Imagine the DDR pathway as a mass of many different notes and targets all interconnected…

We’re on our fifth AACR Preview already this year and there’s plenty more science and clinical topics to cover yet as we go through the emerging topics up on deck.

In this latest update we take a look at the growing field of DNA damage repair – not just old targets, but a raft of emerging ones too, some of which are still in early preclinical development while others are in early phase 1 trials.

We also have some expert commentary on some of these new targets – what stands out, what’s validated and just as importantly, what’s not?

It’s time to get to the centre of things in PARP-land…

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Finding success in hard to treat breast cancers

Finding pathways to success in breast cancer

The last week brough a huge tsunami of data across varied topics ranging from hematologic malignancies (ASH), breast cancer (SABCS) and immunotherapies (ESMO IO) – we’re still digging our way out of it all!

There’s plenty of detailed analyses yet to come from all of these meetings, including some KOL interviews and thought provoking pieces to consider as well.

Here we look at some translational findings from academic researchers as well as companies involved in clinical trials in breast cancer. Yes, it’s time for some post SABCS reviews on a series of different topics…

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When IO, targeted therapy and oncogene worlds collide

Rodin’s The Thinker sculpture   Source: Wikimedia Commons

Recently, I have been pondering a raft of clinical and translational data we have seen emerge across multiple virtual conferences from several different categories of therapies such as checkpoint blockade, targeted therapies, PARP inhibition, epigenetics, and even mathematics.

Many people tend to look at these disparate categories and see them as quite different therapeutic options, but lately I have began to wonder if they are in fact much more inextricably linked than seems obvious at first glance?

This turned into a broader strategic post about advanced solid tumours and how we might think a little differently about underlying concepts and conceptual frameworks…

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Important learnings from ESMO20

A typical scene from ESMO 2019

Not in Madrid – Is it really only a year ago many of us were frantically dashing around at ESMO last year navigating crowded corridors, long queues for coffee, hunting down the last empty seat in jam packed halls, not to mention feeling the anticipation build for key data being presented in the Presidential sessions?

There are undoubtedly many advantages to virtual digital meetings, aside from the broader access for more people it provides and being able to see the slides unimpeded, yet it must be confessed the things I miss the most are the social interactions and catching up with people and their lives, however brief a moment it may be amongst the hurly burly of 20,000 other souls.

The cultural things we take for granted are often the very essence of what we miss most when they’re no longer obtainable.

Who truly would have guessed our world could be completely upended by the unexpected events of a global pandemic since then? In some ways, it has changed our perception of both time and space.

We have also seen some surprising changes in the fortunes of various clinical trials; some completely rational and predictable, others quite the opposite, as we learned yesterday in a very topsy turvy kind of way.

It’s time to discuss and review the highlights – and lowlights – from ESMO20 Sunday in part 2 of our daily coverage…

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Highlights from Mini Oral Sessions at ESMO20

Not in Madrid: The 2020 virtual congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (#ESMO20) is underway and in this post we’re taking a look at some of the highlights from Friday at ESMO20, a day when we’ve seen a raft of posters and mini-orals released for on-demand viewing.

ESMO20 BannerWith COVID-19 rates rising across Europe, ESMO are to be congratulated for pivoting to a virtual meeting that allows the sharing of knowledge and advancement of the field. It was definitely the right decision in light of the ongoing travel challenges, quarantines, not to mention restrictions on large groups in many countries.

For our daily ESMO20 coverage – just as we would if we had been in Madrid – we’ve been listening to some of the on-demand mini-oral presentations and associated discussions, with a view to picking out and commenting on a few that stood out for us.

As always we’re approaching this from a cancer new product development perspective, and our choice is always a balance of emerging new targets and drugs, as well as following those we’ve previously written about.

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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…

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Highlights from small biotechs at SITC 2019

Some of the upcoming coming small biotechs caught our attention and may turn out to be future stars

National Harbor – There were quite a few gems in the poster halls and oral presentations from up and coming small cap biotechs at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) meeting this year.

Who were they and what did we learn from them?

In the latest part of our latest SITC coverage we highlight 13 presentations – 11 from small biotechs and 2 academic abstracts – that caught our attention, explain what’s intriguing about them and why they matter.

There’s not a single big Pharma included (unless as a reference point or given in combination) since the focus is mainly on up and coming companies with their novel approaches.

The list is quite selective and not at all random from a list of over 850 abstracts.

So what stood out and what was special about them?

Some of the selections are likely hidden sleepers that few will be familiar with… they also cover a wide range of approaches, targets, different modalities and even strategic intent.

Even if you were at the SITC 2019 meeting, increasingly there were more business meetings taking up valuable time than sessions attended, so this is a great way to catch all the highlights for your trip report 😉

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Novel DDR combinations and regimens that could make a difference

It’s the dog days of summer and yet there’s a lot happening on the DDR front from multiple angles.

After a short break from science, this makes now a really good time to reflect and take stock in order to explore some of the key issues facing the field, especially in terms of future combination approaches.

Research that’s appearing now may influence future trial designs – always a nagging worry in Pharmaland that the standard of care can change before you even get your own phase 3 readout! No one likes to be pipped to the post, after all.

With the early WEE–1 news this week and a raft of new PARP readouts, there is much to discuss and also plenty of nuance and subtlety to consider carefully because what looks obvious at first blush may not actually be the case based on prior evidence that many will have forgotten about.

So grab a cup of iced coffee and shades and settle down under your sunbrellas for a pleasant and easy to read review of the various trials, settings, combinations and DDR pathway considerations…

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