Tscan Therapeutics Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application for TSC-203-A0201, a T-cell receptor (TCR)-engineered T-cell therapy (TCR-T) targeting preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME). PRAME is expressed in melanoma and other solid tumors, including head and neck cancers and non-small-cell lung cancers. TSC-203-A0201 is specific for patients with HLA type A*02:01.
Dermasensor Inc.’s elastic scattering spectroscopy device appears to have solved one of the more challenging issues in dermatology—early detection of skin cancers in individuals with darker skin tones. The device demonstrated very high sensitivity across all skin cancer types compared to histopathological exams with minimal variation between Fitzpatrick skin type groups in an analysis of the DERM-SUCCESS trial.
Krystal Biotech Inc. has received FDA acceptance of its IND application for lead oncology drug candidate KB-707 for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic solid tumor malignancies. KB-707 is a modified herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) vector designed to deliver genes encoding both human IL-12 and IL-2 to the tumor microenvironment and promote systemic immune-mediated tumor clearance.
Researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute and collaborators had previously demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of an autologous whole tumor cell vaccine, named rWTC-MBTA, to prevent primary tumor growth and enhance mouse survival in a colon carcinoma model. The vaccine is composed of irradiated entire tumor cells (rWTC) pulsed with mannan-BAM (a pathogen-associated molecular pattern), TLR agonists and anti-CD40 antibody (MBTA).
Sortina Pharma AB has divulged sortilin (NT3; Gp95) antagonists reported to be useful for the treatment of cancer, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Researchers at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) Pharma GmbH & Co. KG and Vanderbilt University have described proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) compounds comprising E3 ubiquitin ligase binding moieties covalently linked to GTPase KRAS (mutant) binding moieties through a linker.
B cells that expressed a constellation of checkpoint inhibitors could be spurred into antitumor activity by deleting or blocking the checkpoint molecule T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 1 (TIM-1). The findings, which were published online in Nature on June 21, 2023, suggest ways to bring B cells into the antitumor fight. More broadly, Lloyd Bod told BioWorld, his laboratory aims to “break the dogma that B cells only produce antibodies.”
Larkspur Biosciences Inc. recently published findings uncovering a role for B cells in antitumor immunity, and highlighting TIM-1 as a targetable checkpoint protein central to B-cell antitumor activity.
A group of scientists from the Center for Stem Cell and Translational Immunotherapy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School have developed an antitumor immunotherapy that uses oncolytic viruses and stem cells for the treatment of metastatic brain melanoma.
