A nanoparticle designed to treat soft tissue sarcoma has passed its first hurdle with the successful conclusion of a Phase 1 study in patients with the disease. The developer, Nanobiotix SA, plans to position the product alongside radiotherapy as a treatment for patients with locally advanced sarcoma for whom few treatment options exist.
A Phase 3 trial of the antibody therapeutic Cyramza (ramucirumab) has failed to reach its primary endpoint of overall survival in patients with liver cancer. The trial was comparing Cyramza plus best supportive care to placebo plus best supportive care as a second-line therapy.
Novartis has reported that patients with polycythemia vera, a type of blood cancer, showed an improvement in their condition compared with the best available therapy following treatment with the JAK inhibitor Jakavi (ruxolitinib).
An experimental treatment combining the drug olaparib, which blocks DNA repair, with the blood vessel inhibitor cediranib showed a near doubling of progression-free survival in patients with ovarian cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Roche said that results from a Phase 1 open-label study of its checkpoint inhibitor MPDL3280A shrank tumours in 43% of people with a specific type of metastatic bladder cancer. The data was disclosed at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago on 31 May.
Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG of Switzerland has reported further positive data from a Phase 3 trial of a new treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a genetic disease that causes severe degeneration of the muscle.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has reported the failure of a second Phase 3 trial of its candidate medicine for acute coronary syndrome darapladib. In the study the compound did not achieve the primary endpoint of reducing major coronary events compared with placebo and the standard of care.
An antiviral agent intended to prevent cytomegalovirus infections in patients receiving bone marrow transplants, has been highlighted in a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine. The compound, letermovir, originated at AiCuris GmbH & Co of Germany.
Merck & Co Inc said that is suspending a Phase 3 study of the experimental treatment vintafolide for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer on advice from the trial’s data safety monitoring board because the product didn’t show efficacy for progression-free survival.
A new paradigm for testing experimental medicines is being launched in the UK under the leadership of Cancer Research UK and with the participation of AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc and the National Health Service (NHS). The project involves testing up to 14 experimental medicines in patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer who have been ‘stratified’ according to the genetic characteristics of their disease.