Amgen Inc and Roche have decided to jointly conduct human trials in a prospective immunotherapy for cancer that combine’s Amgen’s oncolytic vaccine talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC)) with Roche’s checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab.
Patients with one of four subtypes of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma have shown a response to treatment with a CD-19 antibody called MOR208 which was administered as a monotherapy. Data from the Phase 2a study also showed the drug was well tolerated, according to the developer MorphoSys AG.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company said that its marketed cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) has shown a significant survival benefit for patients with non-small cell lung cancer raising the possibility that it could establish a new standard of care for the disease.
Merck & Co Inc said that its checkpoint antibody Keytruda (pembrolizumab) achieved an overall response rate of 25% in patients with metastatic head and neck cancer. The Phase 1b study included 132 heavily pre-treated patients.
Roche said that its CD20 antibody obinutuzumab (Gazyva/Gazyvaro) has provided significant benefit to patients with indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma paving the way for regulatory filings in the US, European Union and elsewhere.
The future of the anti-inflammatory drug brodalumab is under review following a decision by Amgen Inc to quit a co-development and commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca Plc. This follows the observation of suicidal ideation and behaviour in a Phase 3 programme.
Roche has announced that two Phase 1/2 studies of its anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor (ALK) drug alectinib shrank tumours in patients with ALK-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer whose disease had progressed following treatment with crizotinib.
Thrombogenics NV has teamed up with the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) to create a new oncology company, Oncurious NV, which will re-start development of an antibody that was once licensed to Roche. Called TB-403, the antibody targets placental growth factor.
Autifony Therapeutics Ltd has received funding to progress a second compound into clinical development that targets voltage-gated potassium channels in the brain. The indication is schizophrenia. It is already investigating a compound against the same target for hearing loss and tinnitus.
A spin-out from the University of Oxford has developed a new way of preserving livers for transplant. Instead of cooling the organs and storing them on ice, researchers have developed a device that maintains the liver in an environment that mimics that of the body.