News & Features

A genomic atlas of proteins found in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease patients has helped identify new targets for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and stroke; and 29 drugs, already approved by the FDA for other indications, could be used to target these conditions.

Clofazimine, which was discovered in 1954, is FDA approved and on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. The drug’s utility for COVID-19 was initially identified by screening more than 12,000 drugs from the ReFRAME drug library.

Immunocore's tebentafusp is the first T-cell receptor and the first systemic therapy that shows a significant survival benefit for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma, according to results from a Phase III trial.

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center say that grouping epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations by structure and function can help to better match non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to the most promising treatments.

According to the draft, remdesivir had not reduced the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the bloodstream of 158 patients treated with the antiviral candidate in the 237-patient trial and 18 patients were taken off the drug due to side effects.

Researchers found that blocking the activity of IL-6 at the blood-brain barrier increased the lifespan of fruit flies with cancer by 45% and also found that after 21 days, 75% of cancer-carrying lab mice treated with an IL-6 receptor blocker were alive, versus only 25% of untreated mice.

Of the 13 loci identified so far by the team, two had higher frequencies among patients of East Asian or South Asian ancestry than in those of European ancestry, underscoring the importance of diversity in genetic datasets.

GenapSys’ sequencing system is about the size of an iPad, costs under $10,000, and is based on a proprietary direct electronic sequencing chip, which is intended to eliminate the need for cumbersome equipment.

Research highlights from ESMO21 included results from Phase III DESTINY-Breast03 trial (AZ, Daiichi Sankyo), Phase II KRYSTAL-1 lung cancer study (Mirati Therapeutics), Phase III CheckMate 649 (Bristol Myers Squibb), and the Phase III KEYNOTE-826 trial.

A new immunotherapy using modified cells targeting two different antigens was highly effective in a mouse model of human neuroblastoma, according to a study led by researchers from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UNC School of Medicine.