CognitrexCancerDigest

  HealthCare Global Enterprises Limited (HCG Cancer Hospital Bengaluru) and Strand Life Sciences have announced comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP), an approach to detect multiple actionable cancer biomarkers at ‘one go’ to optimize treatment for better clinical outcomes. The StrandAdvantage500, is a simple and comprehensive next generation sequencing (NGS) based assay that analyses cancer-relevant genetic alterations from DNA and RNA derived from a patient’s tumor in one integrated workflow. According to Dr B S Ajaikumar, chairman and CEO, HCG, “Cancer cases in India are on the rise, and the goal is to offer affordable as well as right cancer care.  We have witnessed instances where patients do not respond to certain drugs due to their heterogeneous genetic makeup. Partnering with Strand and Illumina, we have been diligently profiling our patients to understand their genomic makeup and manage them accordingly. However, with CGP based tumor profiling, we will have consolidat...

  NEW DELHI: Drug firm BDR Pharmaceuticals on Monday said it has launched 80 mg version of generic enzalutamide tablets used for the treatment of  prostate cancer  in India at a price of Rs 24,480 per pack with 4 strips. The company had earlier received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India ( DCGI ) to manufacture 40 mg enzalutamide in 2017 to treat men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer ( mCRPC ) under the brand name Bdenza, BDR Pharma said in a statement. The 80 mg version is an attempt to reduce the pill burden as it is expected to increase the patient compliance, it added. "At BDR Pharma, we aim to introduce innovative treatment options that will benefit cancer patients and improve their overall standard of care. This launch further strengthens our commitment to provide affordable and accessible treatment options for patients with prostate cancer in India," BDR Pharma CMD Dharmesh Shah said. The drug is being launched at a price of Rs 2...

  Bristol Myers Squibb announced primary results from CheckMate -649, the pivotal phase 3 trial in which first-line treatment with Opdivo (nivolumab) plus chemotherapy showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, gastro esophageal junction (GEJ) cancer or esophageal adenocarcinoma compared to treatment with chemotherapy alone. Opdivo is the first PD-1 inhibitor to demonstrate superior OS and PFS in combination with chemotherapy when compared to chemotherapy alone in patients with gastric cancer, GEJ cancer or esophageal adenocarcinoma. The OS and PFS benefits were observed in patients whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score (CPS) = 5, achieving both of the trial’s primary endpoints. The OS benefit was also observed in the all-randomized trial population. Median OS (Hazard Ratio [HR]: 0.71; 98.4% Confidenc...

  On Sept. 1, Gilead struck a development deal for an immuno-oncology asset—the value of which spoke volumes about the industry’s enthusiasm for emerging immune targets for treating cancer. Gilead   paid   $85 million upfront, invested $35 million in equity and vowed up to $685 million in development milestone payments to Jounce Therapeutics to license its preclinical asset JTX-1811. JTX-1811 targets a receptor on immunosuppressive tumor-infiltrating T regulatory (TITR) cells, which normally help tumors evade detection by the immune system. The drug is designed to bind to the receptor on the cells, which labels them for depletion. The deal came just months after Gilead struck a $2 billion deal with Arcus to develop a range of immuno-oncology treatments. The first wave of immuno-oncology drugs were targeted at immune checkpoints and produced blockbusters like Merck’s PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda. The next wave includes second-generation checkpoint inhibitors along with drugs th...

 A  leading data analytics and technology-enabled services company dedicated to helping health plans, providers, and patients with solutions that are purpose-built for oncology, has announced the launch of Pharmacy Consulting Services, which are designed to help health plans successfully navigate the world of anti-cancer drugs.  New cancer treatments are entering the market at an unrelenting, accelerated pace. Since 2018 alone, the FDA has approved over 140 new cancer indications, including 55 novel cancer drug entities. The explosive growth of treatment options in oncology means that the stakes for patients, providers, and health plans have never been higher, yet managing the cancer drug information gap remains a significant challenge.  Through Oncology Analytics' Pharmacy Consulting Services, health plans can leverage a team of board-certified oncology pharmacists and board-certified medical oncologists and hematologists to keep current on the rapidly changing...

  AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) has been approved in the European Union for the 1st-line treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) in combination with a choice of chemotherapies, etoposide plus either carboplatin or cisplatin. SCLC is a highly aggressive, fast-growing form of lung cancer that typically recurs and progresses rapidly despite initial response to chemotherapy. The approval by the European Commission was based on positive results from the phase III CASPIAN trial showing Imfinzi plus chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful overall survival (OS) benefit for the 1st-line treatment of patients with ES-SCLC. It follows the recommendation for approval by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency in July 2020. Luis Paz-Ares MD, Ph.D., chair, Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Universitario Doce de Octubre, Madrid, Spain and principal investigator in the pha...