We have written frequently about the growing importance of biomarkers and how diagnostics will increasingly play a dominant role in the way that therapeutics are prescribed and reimbursed. Immuno-oncology (IO) treatments in particular are expected to benefit from the availability of truly predictive biomarkers, based on the dramatic treatment gains they have achieved for a...
On March 29, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Roche’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for the treatment of either relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), or primary progressive MS (PPMS). The approval was particularly noteworthy as Ocrevus is the first therapeutic approved for the treatment of PPMS, a form of the disease that accounts for 10-15% of MS...
ASCO is the largest annual gathering of the worldwide oncology community, and this year’s event takes place this coming weekend, from June 2-6 in Chicago, Illinois. About 10 days ago, the association released its program and a wide slate of abstracts that have given way to plenty of media reports and speculation about what other...
On September 19, 2016 the US Food and Drug Administration approved Sarepta’s Exondys 51 (eteplirsen) injection, the first drug approved to treat the underlying cause of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Exondys 51 is specifically indicated for patients who have a confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene amenable to exon 51 skipping, which affects about 13...
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a rare genetic disease characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. It is one of the most frequent genetic disorders, affecting approximately 1 of 3,600 (primarily) male children. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene for dystrophin on the X chromosome that results in the absence of...
On March 27, the FDA gave Tesaro a broad approval for its PARP inhibitor, niraparib, as maintenance therapy for patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer after a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy. The FDA decision came well in advance of the PDUFA date set for June 30, and...
We recently wrote about the continued, costly failure of Alzheimer’s disease drugs, often occurring in Phase 3 clinical development. Of 244 compounds tested from 2002 to 2012, only one gained approval. Today there are four compounds on the market for Alzheimer’s disease (of six total approved since research began), all aimed at treating symptoms rather...
On November 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Priority Review to Merck’s Supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in the new indication of microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) cancer. MSI-H is a biomarker caused by a deficiency in a cell’s ability to repair errors in DNA sequences that occur during cell division. The...
On December 13, President Barack Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act. The landmark bi-partisan health and science bill, which passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 94 to 5, provides $6.3 billion in funding over 10 years, including $4.8 billion to the National Institutes of Health in support of such programs as...
On September 21, Facebook CEO and billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, and his pediatrician wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced a new, privately funded big science effort. The couple pledged more than $3 billion toward a plan to “cure, prevent or manage all disease within our children’s lifetime.” The couple has pledged to donate over $3 billion...