“In 2015, when I started in this field…. people considered breast cancer a cold tumor,” Marleen Kok told the audience at the European Society of Medical Oncology’s 2022 Targeted Anticancer Therapy meeting (ESMO TAT). But the sensitivity of breast cancer to immunotherapy, or lack thereof, is “not a black and white phenomenon.”
PARIS – Resilience SAS raised $46 million in a series A round to ramp up European distribution of its mobile application intended for remote monitoring of breast cancer patients, in partnership with the Gustave Roussy Center in Villejuif, France. This funding round was led by two Parisian venture capital funds specializing in digital health – Cathay Innovation SAS and Singular Capital Partners SAS – along with Dutch-based Exor Seeds NV, German-based Picus Capital GmbH and Seaya Capital Gestion, SGEIC, SA, from Spain.
South Africa’s Competition Commission sent a warning this week to the biopharma industry when it announced that it is prosecuting Roche Holding AG for what it called excessive pricing of the company’s breast cancer drug, Herceptin, which is also marketed as Herclon in South Africa.
PARIS – Healshape SAS is preparing a $6.8 million series A round to develop a 3D bioprinted breast implant obtained from the patients' own cells. Supported by Pulsalys SAS, Lyon Saint-Etienne’s technology transfer acceleration company, this startup from Villeurbanne, France, has already benefited from more than a million dollars of French public funding and subsidies.
Illumina Inc. and Agendia NV are joining forces for a multiyear partnership to develop diagnostic tests for breast cancer. The collaboration will unite lllumina’s Miseq Dx sequencing platform, with Agendia's flagship genomic test, Mammaprint, which identifies a patient’s breast cancer recurrence risk. Illumina has been steadily signing partnerships over the past few years and currently has more than 30 IVD partners and 40 sequencing-based solutions for cancer under development.
Legochem Biosciences Inc. has licensed out its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) LCB-14 to Iksuda Therapeutics Ltd. in the duo’s latest deal that is worth $1 billion. Daejeon, South Korea-based Legochem will receive $50 million in an up-front payment and near-term milestones, and up to $950 million in developments, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Prelude Corp. (dba Preludedx) reported positive results from the SweDCIS randomized trial showing its DCISionrt test predicts radiation benefit for lowering 10-year local invasive breast cancer risk. The prognostic, artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool assesses and predicts the benefit of radiotherapy for women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) following breast-conserving surgery (BCS).
TORONTO – Koios Medical Inc. has received Health Canada approval for its DS Smart Ultrasound decision support software, which the company said accurately interprets breast ultrasound examinations. Company CEO Chad McClennan told BioWorld greater accuracy will provide early cancer detection rates, while reducing costly false positives and unnecessary biopsies.
Lunit Inc. has won FDA approvals for the company’s breast cancer detection product Lunit Insight MMG and the triage and notification software Lunit Insight CXR Triage, only days apart. Lunit Insight MMG is an artificial intelligence (AI) product for breast cancer detection from mammography images. Lunit’s second approval is for Lunit Insight CXR Triage, its AI-powered chest X-ray triaging product.
PARIS – The French National Authority for Health (HAS) is expanding the available range of novel autologous technologies reimbursed in the context of breast reconstruction following ablative surgery. In doing so, the HAS is paving the way towards reimbursement for novel autologous techniques in general.