Industry & Policy News

[STAT News] For what would have been Henrietta Lacks’ 103th birthday, her family got her some justice: A settlement with Thermo Fisher Scientific over the Massachusetts-based company’s use of cells obtained without her consent seven decades ago.

[Nature] Under-representation of people of color sparks concerns over the safety and efficacy of drugs in diverse populations. Black and Hispanic people are up to twice as likely as white people to develop Alzheimer’s disease, but they have a much lower chance of being included in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatments.

[Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center] Endowed by long-time Fred Hutch supporters Ric and Kaylene Anderson, the chair will provide Dr. Aaron Ring with sustained support as he untangles the immune system’s complexities and uses immuno-pharmacological approaches to develop cancer immunotherapies.

[Theriva^™ Biologics (Globe Newswire)] Theriva™ Biologics announced key progress in VIRAGE, a multinational, Phase IIb, randomized, open-label, controlled clinical trial evaluating VCN-01 in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy as a first-line therapy for patients with metastatic PDAC.

[Ascentage Pharma] Ascentage Pharma announced that lisaftoclax, a novel Bcl-2 inhibitor, has been cleared by the US FDA to enter a global registrational Phase III study for treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma who were previously treated with BTKi.

[UCLA Health] Dr. Tanya Stoyanova was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to identify new treatment strategies for neuroendocrine prostate cancer, a highly aggressive form of the disease. The grant will help support Stoyanova and her team identify new molecular mechanisms underlying the development of neuroendocrine prostate cancer.