Tag: cancer
Company News: Prof. Cornelis Melief to Present Novel AMPLIVANT™ Platform at AACR Annual Meeting 2013
ISA Pharmaceuticals B.V., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on rationally designed therapeutic vaccines against cancer and persistent viral infections, today announced that Prof. Cornelis Melief, M.D., will present details on the novel AMPLIVANTTM platform at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. AMPLIVANTTM is based on a powerful, proprietary toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand improving immunotherapies.
Presentation title: “Synthetic vaccine for immunotherapy of high risk HPV infections“
Symposium: SY27 “New Cancer Vaccines“
Abstract number: SY27-01
Date: April 9, 2013, at 10:40 a.m.
Location: Room 202 at the Washington Convention Center.
The abstract is available at the AACR website www.aacr.org.
Company News: ISA Pharmaceuticals Secures EUR 8 Million Funding
ISA Pharmaceuticals B.V., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on rationally designed therapeutic vaccines against cancer and persistent viral infections, has today announced that it has raised EUR 8 million in a follow-on round from its existing investor base.
The proceeds will be used to fund a randomized Phase II clinical trial in cervical cancer with ISA’s lead program ISA-HPV, a therapeutic vaccine for pre-malignant diseases and cancers induced by human papilloma virus (HPV). Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and is caused by HPV infection. The company has already demonstrated clinical efficacy of its HPV vaccine in a Phase II study in Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia.
ISA’s vaccines are based on its proprietary synthetic long peptide (SLP®) vaccine platform. The company is currently advancing existing and new programs based on its SLP® vaccine platform in a number of cancers, including cervical carcinoma, as well as its groundbreaking proprietary toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand adjuvant technology.
Innovation Radar: Starving Cells Improves Chemotherapy
A few days of fasting may delay tumor progression and improve chemotherapy, a new study in mice reports. The findings indicate that fasting prior to chemotherapy treatment protects animals – and possibly humans – against the side effects of treatment. Here, Valter Longo and colleagues show in mice that fasting for 2 days in the absence of other treatments can delay the progression of different types of cancer, and may in some cases be just as effective as toxic chemotherapy drugs. However, the combination of fasting and chemotherapy appears to be more effective at making normal cells stronger (more able to resist damage from chemotherapeutic drugs) than either alone. In fact, combined fasting and chemotherapy promoted long-term, cancer-free survival in up to 40 percent of mice with neuroblastomas. Although clinical trials testing the effect of fasting in cancer treatment are still in early stages, these studies suggest that fasting cycles have the potential to boost the efficacy of chemotherapy. The results are particularly relevant for advanced-stage patients for whom standard treatment is ineffective.
The research is published in this week’s Science Translational Medicine (Sci. Transl. Med. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003293)
Company News: Achmea and LSP Launch LSP-Health Economics Fund for Innovation in Healthcare
Dutch healthcare insurer Achmea and investment company Life Sciences Partners (LSP) have set up an investment fund for innovation in healthcare, the LSP-Health Economics Fund (LSP-HEF). On 5 September 2011, the healthcare insurer already announced its intention to make € 50 million available for this purpose. As of today, the fund is ‘open for business’ and will seek to invest in international technology companies that may contribute to increased healthcare quality and better cost control.
The fund will be managed by Life Sciences Partners (LSP) a pan-European investment firm specialized in healthcare and biotechnology investments. LSP has recruited a dedicated investment team consisting of investment and technology specialists as well as experts for health economics and healthcare processes. The team will target European and US-based companies that have products close to or on the market. The main focus are companies offering promising technologies or products targeting indications such as cardiovascular diseases, lung disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia – diseases that more and more people are afflicted with and for which society pays a high price.
New technologies and products for these indications can lead to better control of health care costs while improve the quality of patient care, for example by using better diagnostics, applying minimally invasive treatments or preventing complications. In spite of this, it is the experience of Achmea and LSP that many of these companies struggle to penetrate the market quickly due to an insufficiently developed health economics case; this is often due to the fact that the technology has not been developed together with healthcare providers, not all stakeholders have been considered, and that a sales process that requires addressing each individual physician can slow down market take-up.
Through the unique cooperation between an insurance company and an investment firm, Achmea and LSP can efficiently support such companies in bringing their technologies to the market. Achmea will provide access to its know-how, expertise and database to help build the healthcare economics cases. Moreover, Achmea will help companies to find their way in the healthcare market, and will bring new technologies to the attention of healthcare providers.