A little over a decade ago, a paper was published in Science1  that made science fiction a reality. Emmanuel Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna, and colleagues reported that they had identified a means of harnessing an element of a bacterial immune system to carry out genome editing in a way that was…

On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the California Cancer Care Equity Act (CCCEA), legislation that will expand access to cancer care for Medi-Cal patients who receive a complex cancer diagnosis. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the new law will enable the most vulnerable populations in the state to…

By Blair Stevens Blair Stevens Uncertain genetic testing results are not an unusual event in the field of genetic counseling. Obstetricians routinely refer patients to genetic counselors to help them navigate unclear prenatal genetic testing results by reviewing the complexities of genetic information and discussing the…

New research among patients with cancer indicates differing immune responses to COVID-19 vaccination with an mRNA vaccine (Moderna’s mRNA-1273). The findings from the Moffitt Cancer Center also revealed variable antibody responses differing by cancer diagnosis and treatment. A paper summarizing their findings is published in JAMA Oncology. “The good news…

Personalized diagnostics and therapeutics developer Adaptive Biotechnologies has raised at least $300 million in gross proceeds through an initial public offering (IPO)—the second-largest one for a biopharma company so far this year—then saw its share price double as investors flocked to the stock. Shares of Adaptive debuted for trading June…

Strata Oncology said today it will partner with University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), to expand access to tumor sequencing and clinical trials for men with metastatic prostate cancer. Strata, a precision oncology company, and UCSF are launching Stratify Prostate™, an initiative aimed at advancing precision medicine among men with…

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) have opened enrollment for a nationwide precision medicine trial for childhood cancers targeting solid tumors with specific genetic mutations. Dubbed Pediatric MATCH (Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice), the Phase 2 trial will comprise different drugs targeting specific sets…

Liquid biopsies in oncology initially focused on detecting and analyzing the numbers and types of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood, but more recently many researchers have come to include analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). cfDNA testing was first used in the United States…

Strata Oncology said today it will support Epizyme's ongoing Phase II clinical trial of tazemetostat in patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). Under the agreement the company will offer patient identification and enrollment for Epizyme’s trial through a clinical collaboration whose value was not disclosed. The collaboration is…

German clinical-stage biopharma company Affimed and MD Anderson today announced a development and commercialization agreement in immuno-oncology that will evaluate Affimed’s bispecific antibodies in combination with the natural killer cell (NK) technology of MD Anderson. Affimed’s calls its bispefic antibodies “TandAbs” due to their tandem antibody structure, which is designed…