Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

THURSDAY, Sept. 26, 2024 -- Non-Hispanic Black patients in the United States appear to have persistent disparities in terms of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for various hematologic cancers, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in JAMA Network Open . Theresa Hahn, Ph.D., from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, and colleagues conducted a U.S. population-based retrospective cohort study involving patients who received HCT from January 2009 to December 2018 to assess utilization over time by race, ethnicity, and age. A total of 136,280 HCTs were analyzed for six hematologic cancers, including 16.7 percent pediatric/adolescent/young adults (0 to 39 years) and 83.3 percent adults (40 to 84 years); 10.3, 11.4, 3.8, and 74.5 percent of patients were Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Other, and non-Hispanic White, respectively. The researchers found that over time, there was an increase in HCT utilization for all disease, age, race, and ethnic groups. From 2017 to 2018, among adults, similar allogeneic transplant utilization for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome was seen for Hispanic and non-Hispanic White or Other patients, but lower utilization was seen for non-Hispanic Black patients (acute myeloid leukemia: 19 versus 13 percent; myelodysplastic syndrome: 9 to 10 percent versus 5 percent). Similarly, autologous transplant utilization for multiple myeloma was higher for non-Hispanic White patients and lower for all other groups (31 percent versus 26 to 27 percent). "More work is needed to understand and address the contextual factors to improve HCT utilization based on the latest scientific evidence and ensure equal access for disadvantaged populations," the authors write. Abstract/Full Text Editorial Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

The cogs are turning at the AI-focused biotech, which has managed to Generate another Big Pharma partnership. Novartis has inked a deal potentially worth more than $1 billion with Flagship-founded Generate:Biomedicines to develop protein therapeutics across multiple indications.The companies did not disclose specifics about potential disease areas, referring only to the pact as a “multi-target collaboration” in a Sept. 24 release.Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis is doling out $65 million in cash, an upfront payment that includes a $15 million purchase of equity in Generate. The Swiss Big Pharma is also offering the biotech more than $1 billion in milestone payments, plus tiered royalties up to low double-digit percentages. The partnership revolves around Generate’s generative AI platform, which integrates machine learning with high-throughput experimental validation with the aim of ushering in a new era of programmable biology.Paired with Novartis’ capabilities in target biology and clinical development, the partners hope to create new therapeutics at an accelerated pace, according to the release.  “Partnering with a world-leading drug discovery and development organization like Novartis allows us to broaden the use of our cutting-edge generative biology platform to tackle even more areas of unmet medical need,” Generate CEO Mike Nally said in the release. “We look forward to working closely with the team at Novartis to continue to demonstrate the transformative potential of programming biology to create better medicines for patients, faster.” Founded by Flagship in 2018, Generate is no stranger to Big Pharma tie-ups. In 2022, Amgen inked an agreement worth up to $1.9 billion biobucks to develop five initial programs with Generate, leaving room for the potential to nominate up to five more programs later. Amgen has already taken up its option in part, with the pair currently working on six undisclosed programs together.Generate is known for its eye-popping fundraises, securing $273 million in a series C last year and a $370 million series B back in 2021.The biotech currently has two candidates in the clinic: GB-0669, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting a region of the COVID-19 virus’ spike protein, and GB-0895, an anti-TSLP mAb for patients with severe asthma.At the beginning of this year, Generate said it planned on advancing an additional four to five assets into the clinic over the next two years. The company’s pipeline includes a preclinical bispecific targeting non-small cell lung cancer and being developed in collaboration with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as well as an armored CAR-T for solid tumors in partnership with the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.The biotech is also working on a preclinical antibody drug conjugate plus a protein binder designed to serve as an ADC toxin neutralizer.

TUESDAY, Sept. 17, 2024 -- A small clinical trial suggests that a duo of drugs can extend survival for people battling advanced kidney cancer. Researchers at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y., developed the new regimen, a combination of pazopanib ( Votrient ) and bevacizumab ( Avastin ). Pazopanib is from a class of cancer drugs know as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). These drugs work by blocking vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling -- a key mechanism that cancer cells need to grow. In prior trials that led to pazopanib's approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the drug led to an average survival (without cancer progression) of just over 11 months among people diagnosed with kidney tumors. The new trial, which involved 51 patients, found that combining pazopanib treatment with bevacizumab doubled that progression-free survival, to more than 23 months, on average. Patients received pazopanib and bevacizumab in 10-week treatment cycles. They first underwent treatment with pazopanib during days 1 to 28. As a team led by by Dr. Saby George explained, pazopanib works by shutting down VEGF, but any increase in VEGF can lead to cancer cell resistance against the drug. So, patients got bevacizumab midway through the 10-week cycle (days 36 to 50), since that drug "neutralizes" VEGF -- potentially extending pazopanib's cancer -fighting power. The strategy appears to have worked, greatly boosting survival among those patients who received it. Some patients with advanced kidney cancers were good candidates for powerful immunotherapy cancer medicines, but George's team noted that pazopanib/bevacizumab might be a safer option for some. The combo drug therapy had "superior safety compared with immunotherapy combinations," the researchers noted in a Roswell news release. “Because immunotherapy options were available to patients in other risk groups, the phase 2 group included more patients in the Favorable Risk category,” said George, a professor of oncology and medicine at Roswell. “The encouraging results suggest that alternating pazopanib with bevacizumab is a promising treatment regimen for renal cell [kidney] carcinoma patients in the Favorable Risk group.” The findings were presented Sunday at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Because the study was presented at a medical meeting, its findings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.