7
Oct
2019
Tag: Biomarkers
24
Jun
2019
Bionest
Liquid Biopsy Methods Showing Their Worth
The ability to detect and monitor mutational changes in tumors through a simple blood test has spurred considerable development within the field of liquid biopsy. While questions remain about the accuracy of such tests and the most relevant analyte to measure (i.e., circulating tumor DNA, cell free DNA, circulating tumor cells), liquid biopsy could offer...
8
Apr
2019
Bionest
Alzheimer’s Disease Update
Scientific evidence increasingly points to brain inflammation as a major driver of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Researchers have discovered that amyloid, one of the hallmarks of the disease, is antimicrobial and may help the immune system fight invaders to the brain. They theorize that accumulating amyloid plaques and tau tangles in response to infection set the...
10
Jul
2018
Bionest
Precision Medicine and NGS Cancer Panels — ASCO Round-Up Part Two
As we wrote in our last post, precision medicine in oncology was the big theme of this year’s ASCO meeting. One of the key advances that has made possible this focus on treating cancer based on particular biomarkers expressed by a patient’s tumors, has been the advent of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based analysis of tumor DNA....
24
May
2018
Bionest
Hot Topics in Neurology at AAN
We have been thinking for some time about the importance of biomarkers in both drug discovery and clinical medicine as they relate to Alzheimer’s (and our In Vivo publication also addresses this topic in depth). At the recent American Academy of Neurology (AAN) conference, there was also widespread interest in this topic, spurred in part...
12
Mar
2018
Bionest
Alzheimer’s Disease: Continued Clinical Failure and a Potential New Development Pathway
Alzheimer’s disease continues to be a costly and frustrating minefield for drug developers. Most recently, Boehringer Ingelheim halted development of the phosphodiesterase type 9 (PDE9) inhibitor BI 409306 after it failed in phase 2. Merck also ended its trial of verubecestat, the company’s beta-secretase-1 (BACE1) inhibitor, in early stage Alzheimer’s disease patients for futility, a few...
23
Jan
2018
Bionest
Alzheimer’s Disease: The Case for Drug-Diagnostic Partnerships
Developing an Alzheimer’s disease drug has been notoriously expensive and high risk. Part of the problem has been the difficulty in identifying the right patients for clinical trials and at the right time – that is, those patients showing early signs of cognitive impairment who will progress to AD. However, new diagnostics, biomarkers, and digital...
21
Nov
2017
Bionest
Giving Thanks in IO
The immuno-oncology (IO) field has a lot to be thankful for as the year comes to a close. Not only are PD-1/PDL-1 inhibitors being rapidly approved, their use is being extended into new indications and tumor types well beyond what people expected. From melanoma and lung cancer to bladder, gastric and liver cancer, drugs...
12
Oct
2017
Bionest
ESMO 2017 — Recent Developments in the Oncology Arena — Part One
We recently returned from the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 meeting, which is the major meeting for oncology professionals in Europe, attracting over 24,000 participants from 131 countries. This fall meeting saw a lot of news, notably in the areas of lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma as well as immuno-oncology generally, including...
7
Sep
2017