Category: News Commentary

Predicting which patients will respond well to treatment is a quandary that has plagued the field of cancer immunotherapy for more than four decades. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy are one step closer to solving that problem.

After the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion for VidPrevtyn® Beta, the vaccine was approved by the European Commission, as a booster for the prevention of COVID-19 in adults 18 years of age and older.

While vaccination can provide life-saving protection against COVID-19, scientists are still searching for ways to treat severe infections, including in people who cannot get vaccinated or in the event that dangerous new strains of the virus arise that could bypass vaccine protection.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) announced a booster dose of their Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine (COMIRNATY® Original/Omicron BA.4/BA.5 5/5 µg) has been recommended for marketing authorization by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for children 5 through 11 years of age.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered the missing puzzle piece in the mystery of how melanoma tumors control their mortality.

In a paper published in Science this week, Jonathan Alder, Ph.D. and his team describe how they discovered the perfect combination of genetic alterations that tumors use to promote explosive growth and prevent their own demise, a development that could change the way oncologists understand and treat melanoma.

The Bayer Group maintained its strong business performance across all three divisions in the third quarter. “Despite rising inflation and global supply chain problems, we were again able to boost sales and earnings,” said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management, when presenting the company’s quarterly statement on Tuesday.

Cancer cells use sugar molecules on their surface to disable attacks by the body’s immune system. Researchers at the University of Basel now report on how this mechanism can be neutralized.

The immune system is actually extremely well equipped to get rid of abnormal cells.

Vividion Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company utilizing novel discovery technologies to unlock high value, traditionally undruggable targets with precision therapeutics for devastating cancers and immune disorders, and a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, today announced that Jenna Goldberg, M.D., has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer.

Patients with nasopharyngeal cancer are often treated with drugs that activate their immune system against the tumor. Until now, it was feared that vaccination against Covid-19 could reduce the success of cancer treatment or cause severe side effects. A recent study by the Universities of Bonn and Shanxi in the People’s Republic of China now gives the all-clear in this regard.

Viral DNA in human genomes, embedded there from ancient infections, serve as antivirals that protect human cells against certain present-day viruses, according to new research.

The paper, “Evolution and Antiviral Activity of a Human Protein of Retroviral Origin,” published in Science, provides proof of principle of this effect.