F-Star claims to be the first company that can create bispecifics that incorporate a binding site on the constant Fc region of the antibody. © EPvantage

Brain disease specialist Denali Therapeutics will buy all outstanding shares in British F-Star Gamma Ltd from F-Star instead licencing bispecific antibody candidates that can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) co-developed under an agreement dating back to 2016.

Picture © Cellectis

Nordic Nanovector ASA today announces that Rainer Boehm, MD was elected as a member of its Board of Directors at the company’s Annual General Meeting on 30 May 2018.

Roche announced that atezolimumab plus chemotherapy met its co-primary endpoints of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) as first-line treatment of stage IV nonsquamous non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Picture © Nouscom

Nouscom, an immuno-oncology company developing off-the-shelf and personalized neoantigen-based genetic cancer vaccines, announced today the appointment of Adrian Woolfson M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

Principle of CAR-T cell therapy. © Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Interleukin 1 (IL-1) blockers may prevent serious adverse events triggered by CAR-T cell therapies, according to two independent studies.

CD38 antibodies attacking multiple myeloma cells. © Sumit Sharma/Pininterest

Following reports of an increase in mortality in a study that combined Genmab’s anti-CD38 daratumumab with a PD-L1 blocker, Genmab’s partner Janssen has stopped a study combining daratumumab with its PD1 blocker JNJ-63723283 in multiple myeloma.

Besides its RAS cancer vaccine, Targovax is testing an oncolytic virus + checkpoint inhibitor in cancer. © Targovax ASA

Targovax ASA’s cancer immunotherapy TG01 significantly prolonged 2-year overall survival of patients with resected pancreatic cancer versus standard therapy. Targovax’ shares were up 16% on Thursday evening.

The engineered SEMA3A protein markedly reduced the volume of metastatic tumors (red) in lymph nodes in mouse models of pancreatic cancer.
©  N. Gioelli et al., Science Translational Medicine (2018)

Italian oncologists have found a more effective tumour angiogenesis blocker which curbs metastasis and tumour growth. 

Molecule structure of Cara Therapeutics' pruritus candidate. © Cara Therapeutics

Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma has licenced ex-US/Japanese/Korean rights to commercialise CR845 (difelikefalin) from Cara Therapeutics for the treatment of chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP).

EB_Spring_2018_Fotolia_phages.jpg

The rapid development of antibiotic resistance has become a major public health issue that could soon kill 10 million people annually. One promising alternative to ineffective antibiotics has been around for almost a century – bacterio­phages. The microbe-killing viruses are used in medicine in Georgia, Poland and Russia, but have been neglected by western doctors. Now pressure is mounting on global health authorities to put the option back on the table.