Onco Actu du 25 avril 2018

	1. Biologie
Study reveals subtypes of lymphoma [NIH] The research team analyzed genomic alterations and gene expression in tumor samples from 574 people with DLBCL. They identified four prominent subtypes that each share a group of genetic aberrations. People with two of the subtypes, called BN2 and EZB, respond well to treatment. People with the other two, called MCD and N1, don’t.
	3.1.1 Prévention - Tabac - e-cigs
F.D.A. Cracks Down on Sales of E-Cigarettes to Minors [NY Times] Schools across the country say they were blindsided by the number of students turning up with Juuls last fall. Nicknamed the iPhone of e-cigarettes, Juuls resemble thumb drives, produce little plume, and smell like fruit or other flavorings, making them so concealable that students can vape in class.
E-Cigarette Sting Operation Prompts U.S. Warnings to Retailers [Bloomberg] Juul held a 39 percent share of the electronic-device smoking market by dollars over the 13 weeks though March, according to data from IRI. That’s up 32 percent from the same period last year.
Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on new enforcement actions and a Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan to stop youth use of, and access to, JUUL and other e-cigarettes [FDA] We’ll hold retailers accountable for continued violations. Let me be clear to retailers. This blitz, and resulting actions, should serve as notice that we will not tolerate the sale of any tobacco products to youth. This isn’t the first time we’ve taken action against retailers for selling these e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors, and it won’t be the last.
	4.2 Dép., diag. & prono. - Génome
Broad Institute to sequence its 100,000th whole human genome on National DNA Day [Broad Institute] The Broad Genomics group runs a fleet of 60 sequencing instruments 24 hours a day, generating data at a rate equivalent to a 30x whole human genome every 12 minutes. Sequencing the first human genome took thirteen years and cost nearly three billion dollars. Today each individual genome is completed in a matter of days at a cost of around $1,000.
	5.10 Traitements - Essais
U.K. commits to EU trial rules post-Brexit as CRUK hails ‘fantastic news’ [FierceBiotech] Currently, the EU regulation has been delayed due to technical problems in the delivery of the online portal and study database. Once that work is complete, the industry will have six months to prepare before the law goes into force, which is expected in late 2019. However, two key elements of the regulation remain outside of the U.K.’s authority.
	5.12.1 Immunothérapies - partenariats
Shire-hunting Takeda notches R&D collaboration with Nektar, pair to combo I-O drugs [FierceBiotech] This test will “evaluate the combination of an every-three-week schedule of NKTR-214 with oral daily doses of TAK-659 in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” the pair said. There are also plans for solid tumors down the line.
	5.12.3 Immunothérapies-combinaisons
It's another fail for AstraZeneca's I-O combo, but it may not mean what you think [FiercePharma] Overall, “the field has moved on,” Bernstein’s Tim Anderson said, calling Arctic “basically the hangover from a now abandoned hypothesis” that PD-L1/CTLA4 pairings such as AZ’s will extend benefits to the PD-L1 negative population.
EU reviewing MSD’s Keytruda/chemo combo [PharmaTimes] The filing is based on data from the Phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial, which showed that first-line use of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with pemetrexed (Lilly’s Alimta) and cisplatin or carboplatin slashed the risk of death by 51 percent compared with chemotherapy alone.
AstraZeneca flop a fresh blow to cancer immunotherapy combination [Reuters] A year ago, the notion of combining the two medicines was the big hope driving AstraZeneca’s stock price - but that hope was dealt a major blow in July when its main first-line lung cancer trial, called MYSTIC, failed to slow disease progression.
	5.12.8 Immunothérapies - Economie
How Blueprint Medicines Got The Blues [Forbes] The numbers Blueprint had presented included cases where doctors had not double-checked to make sure the tumors had really shrunk enough to be called responses. Drilon subtracted those out. This lowered the response rate in medullary thyroid patients from 40% to 24%, and in non-small cell lung cancer from 50% to 36%.
	5.2 Pharma
Revolution Medicines tees up for oncology IND with $56M series B [FierceBiotech] The Bay Area biotech is focusing on what it calls "frontier targets," or targets that have "compelling biology" regarding their role in driving a cancer or bypassing an antitumor immune response, but that have been undruggable, or not adequately druggable, in the past.
FDA slaps partial hold on Epizyme’s lead drug; analysts say ‘don’t panic’ [FierceBiotech] Jefferies points out that several other companies have been in this situation—including Juno and Cellectis—and suggests the company will move quickly to “modify the protocol and trial brochures and get back up and running.” They anticipate a holdup of just a few months.
Raising $56M, Revolution Medicines Drops Old Work and Turns to Cancer [Xconomy] The firm is targeting an enzyme called SHP2, which scientists have found plays a role in many diseases, including cancer.
	5.2.2 Pharma - Fusions & Acquisitions
Fifth and final bid? A determined Takeda said to be nearing $60B-plus Shire deal [FiercePharma] Still, industry watchers have seen Takeda as somewhat of an underdog thanks to its smaller size. To nab Shire, it would have to go into some serious debt, although that’s a possibility the company has said it's ready for.
Takeda reaches preliminary deal to buy Shire for close to $65B [EndPoints] A matchup with Shire would give Takeda a huge Boston/Cambridge research group — even after some presumed deep cuts in personnel — expanding on Shire’s move to concentrate its forces in Lexington and Cambridge following its Baxalta buyout.
	5.2.3 Pharma - économie
Is Biopharma Investing Too Much In Cancer R&D? [Forbes] Historically, the biopharma industry has often piled into areas where confidence was high, but which ended in disappointment.
Celldex to ax 20% of staff after midstage glembatumumab rout [FierceBiotech] Celldex Therapeutics ditched its glembatumumab vedotin program last week after it failed a phase 2 study in triple-negative breast cancer. Now, the company is laying off 41 employees and choosing not to fill 18 open positions to cut costs and stay afloat.
In a blow for pharma, Supreme Court upholds the hated IPR patent challenge [FiercePharma] Branded drugmakers have balked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's inter partes review system almost since its inception seven years ago. One reason? "It's unconstitutional," the companies contend. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed.
	5.3 Traitements - FDA, EMA, NICE...
Rent increase hits Europe’s drug regulator before Brexit move [Nature] The multimillion-euro rent increase, which is spread over two decades, was revealed in EMA board-meeting minutes that were released this month — along with other problems hampering the agency’s move to Amsterdam.
The European Medicines Agency and the Netherlands agree on Seat Agreement [EMA] This is an important step in the relocation of EMA from London to Amsterdam as a result of Brexit. The Seat Agreement ensures that EMA can function properly and independently in the Netherlands.
	5.9 AACR
A cancer drug tailored to your tumor? Experts trade barbs over ‘precision oncology’ [Science] On one side was David Hyman, a 30-something oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and a leader of clinical studies testing gene-targeted cancer drugs. Genomics won’t help most cancer patients at this point, he acknowledged, but many do clearly benefit: “I think this is certainly not hype,” Hyman said. Countering Hyman was another young oncologist, Vinay Prasad of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, a prolific author of provocative journal articles and outspoken Twitter commentator with more than 17,000 followers.
	6. Lutte contre les cancers
Reuters Top 100: Europe's Most Innovative Universities – 2018 [Reuters] Since the ranking measures innovation on an institutional level, it may overlook particularly innovative departments or programs: a university might rank low for overall innovation but still operate one of the world’s most innovative oncology research centers, for instance.
How a New Kind of Autopsy Is Helping in the Fight Against Cancer [Time] Beck donated his body to a rapid-autopsy research study at the Ohio State University, part of a small but growing effort by more than a dozen medical centers nationwide. The idea is to obtain tumor tissue immediately after death — before it has a chance to degrade.
Scientists’ early grant success fuels further funding [Nature] Young researchers who narrowly miss out on postdoctoral grant struggle to compete with those who just qualify.
	6.10 Politiques
Windrush scandal: Albert Thompson gets cancer treatment date [The Guardian] Thompson, 63, said he was “very excited” to hear that a 33-day radiotherapy programme was scheduled to start on 1 May, but was surprised by the sudden rush to resolve the situation after six months of extreme anxiety. “They are scared of all the publicity in the media; it has really shaken them up,” he said.