Seattle Children’s said today it has launched the first clinical trial designed to better understand how the immune system drives both inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in pediatric autoimmunity patients and graft-versus host disease (GVHD) in pediatric bone marrow transplant patients. The PREDICT (Precision Diagnostics in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Cellular Therapy…

New research out of Dana-Farber, the Broad, and Harvard Medical School improves our ability to forecast the alloreactivity of hematopoietic cell transplants (HCTs), which could significantly improve patient outcomes in precision immuno-oncology and allogeneic HCT (allo-HCT) and lead to fewer post-transplant diseases. The cause of allo-HCT-related disease The leading cause…

Many patients who receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for blood cancer suffer from stress related to their treatments. Now, a new phone-based positive psychology program called Positive Affect for the Transplantation of Hematopoietic stem cells intervention (PATH), has shown that it can alleviate the stress these patients experience as…

In what could be a big step forward for immunotherapy, ”unprecedented NK [natural killer] cell-engaging Nanodrones” that can selectively target specific cancer cells have been developed, by researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). This approach, the researchers suggest, could be used to address types of cancers…

Three therapeutic regulatory approvals in less than a year signal that the promise of the human microbiome may finally be paying off. All of the approved therapies focus on treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, but what is next for the field? With promising oncology-related trial results from a number of…

A new standard for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) may have been set, according to results from a phase III study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. The new regimen led to almost 53% survival compared to about 35% on the current treatment used.…

After decades of research, cell and gene therapies are gaining traction in the biotech industry. Here are five investor-favored private startups with products already in clinical development. While conventional medications are often effective at controlling symptoms or modifying a disease, there are many conditions where their benefits are limited, such…

An off-the-shelf T-cell therapy has successfully treated drug-resistant viral infections in 95 percent of patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants, according to final results from an open label Phase II trial. Patients that have received allogeneic bone marrow transplants have their immune system suppressed so that their body doesn’t reject…

Adjusting dosage of the pre-transplant drug anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) to better take into account factors such as bodyweight, lymphocyte cell counts before the first dose, and the source of the stem cells being used for transplantation can improve outcomes for children undergoing stem cell transplants. The researchers, based at the…

A new study suggests that a novel regimen of immune-suppressing drugs comprising, cyclophosphamide, abatacept, and tacrolimus, is a better option for graft versus host disease (GvHD) in people being treated for blood cancer. The studies were led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center.…

BK virus (BKV)-specific T cells from healthy donors were safe and effective as an off-the-shelf therapy for BKV-associated hemorrhagic cystitis (BKV-HC), according to a Phase II trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  BK virus-associated hemorrhagic cystitis is a painful complication and common after…

Burlingame, CA-based Humanigen is testing whether its engineered antibody or “Humaneered” technology developed over two decades can catapult the company to a leading role in the scramble to conquer COVID-19. This coming four years since its emergence from a bankruptcy, touched off by the arrest of its former CEO, “Pharma…

Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a potentially life-threatening medical condition that is common after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), the only curative treatment for various types of leukemias. In GvHD, white blood cells from transplant donor recognize recipient cells as non-self and attack recipient tissues. Understanding how these donor white…

Illumina said today it has acquired Conexio-Genomics, a developer of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing solutions, for an undisclosed price. The acquisition comes about a year after the companies teamed up to launch the TruSight HLA sequencing solution. Conexio’s Assign software provides analysis and reporting for TruSight, a sequencing panel designed…