latest research articles in biotechnology

What It’s like to Live with a Brain Chip, according to Neuralink’s First User

Thirty-year-old Noland Arbaugh says the Neuralink chip has let him “reconnect with the world”

Lauren Leffer

This Start-Up Wants You to Put Custom Bacteria on Your Teeth

Lumina Probiotic has said a genetically modified microbe could prevent cavities. Experts, though, have safety concerns

Christina Szalinski

‘Smart Gloves’ Teach Piano Playing through Touch

A high-tech pair of gloves can help make learning instruments and other hands-on activities easier

Riis Williams

The Tale of the Snail Slime Wrangler

Mucus is a miracle of evolution, and some researchers are trying to re-create what nature makes naturally.

Christopher Intagliata

Your Next Flight's Fuel Could Be Made By Microbes

The aviation industry is getting ready to embrace fuel produced by fermentation

Emily Waltz, Nature Biotechnology

A-fib—a Rapid, Irregular Heartbeat—Can Kill You, but New Tech Can Spot It

A fluttering heartbeat called A-fib can lead to stroke, but smartwatches can detect it, and there are good treatments

Lydia Denworth

Elon Musk’s Neuralink Has Implanted Its First Chip in a Human Brain. What’s Next?

The wealthiest person on Earth has taken the next step toward a commercial brain interface

Ben Guarino

Ultrasound Enables Remote 3-D Printing—Even in the Human Body

For the first time, researchers have used sound waves to 3-D print an object from a distance—even with a wall in the way

Rachel Berkowitz

Your Organs Might Be Aging at Different Rates

It turns out that your chronological age really is just a number. What’s more important for knowing disease risk is the biological age of each of your organs

Lori Youmshajekian

New Soft Electrode Unfolds inside the Skull

An electrode inspired by soft robotics could provide less invasive brain-machine interfaces

Simon Makin

Hearing Aids May Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline and Dementia

As few as 15 percent of people who would benefit from hearing aids use them

How Gene-Edited Insects Are Providing Food, Fuel and Waste Disposal

Companies are recruiting black soldier flies and mealworms as a protein source in animal feed, fertilizer, biofuels and even as ingredients for burgers and shakes

Karl Gruber, Lisa Melton, Nature magazine

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Microvesicles-delivering Smad7 have advantages over microvesicles in suppressing fibroblast differentiation in a model of Peyronie’s disease

This study compared the differences of microvesicles (MVs) and microvesicles-delivering Smad7 (Smad7-MVs) on macrophage M1 polarization and fibroblast differentiation in a model of Peyronie’s disease (PD).

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Improvement and prediction of the extraction parameters of lupeol and stigmasterol metabolites of Melia azedarach with response surface methodology

Melia azedarach is known as a medicinal plant that has wide biological activities such as analgesic, antibacterial, and antifungal effects and is used to treat a wide range of diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, ...

Dual release of daptomycin and BMP-2 from a composite of β-TCP ceramic and ADA gelatin

Antibiotic-containing carrier systems are one option that offers the advantage of releasing active ingredients over a longer period of time. In vitro sustained drug release from a carrier system consisting of ...

Minimizing IP issues associated with gene constructs encoding the Bt toxin - a case study

As part of a publicly funded initiative to develop genetically engineered Brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, and canola) expressing Bacillus thuringiensis Crystal ( Cry )-encoded insecticidal (Bt) toxin for Indian an...

Activating the healing process: three-dimensional culture of stem cells in Matrigel for tissue repair

To establish a strategy for stem cell-related tissue regeneration therapy, human gingival mesenchymal stem cells (hGMSCs) were loaded with three-dimensional (3D) bioengineered Matrigel matrix scaffolds in high...

Co-overexpression of chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase significantly enhanced the resistance of Iranian wheat cultivars to Fusarium

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating fungal disease affecting different cereals, particularly wheat, and poses a serious threat to global wheat production. Chitinases and β-glucanases are two important ...

A new mRNA structure prediction based approach to identifying improved signal peptides for bone morphogenetic protein 2

Signal peptide (SP) engineering has proven able to improve production of many proteins yet is a laborious process that still relies on trial and error. mRNA structure around the translational start site is imp...

Correction: Transcriptomic and targeted metabolomic analyses provide insights into the flavonoids biosynthesis in the flowers of Lonicera macranthoides

The original article was published in BMC Biotechnology 2024 24 :19

A model approach to show that monocytes can enter microporous β-TCP ceramics

β-TCP ceramics are versatile bone substitute materials and show many interactions with cells of the monocyte-macrophage-lineage. The possibility of monocytes entering microporous β-TCP ceramics has however not...

Nutritional composition, lipid profile and stability, antioxidant activities and sensory evaluation of pasta enriched by linseed flour and linseed oil

Pasta assortments fortified with high quality foods are a modern nutritional trends. This study, explored the effects of fortification with linseed flour (LF) and linseed oil (LO) on durum wheat pasta characte...

In vitro assessment of the effect of magnetic fields on efficacy of biosynthesized selenium nanoparticles by Alborzia kermanshahica

Cyanobacteria represent a rich resource of a wide array of unique bioactive compounds that are proving to be potent sources of anticancer drugs. Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have shown an increasing potentia...

ECM-mimetic, NSAIDs loaded thermo-responsive, immunomodulatory hydrogel for rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, and it leads to irreversible inflammation in intra-articular joints. Current treatment approaches for RA include non-steroidal anti-infla...

Development of a chemiluminescence assay for tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor complex and its applicability to gastric cancer

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), is a noteworthy complication in individuals with gastric cancer, but the current diagnosis and treatment methods lack accuracy. In this study, we developed a t-PAIC chemiluminesce...

High-performance internal circulation anaerobic granular sludge reactor for cattle slaughterhouse wastewater treatment and simultaneous biogas production

This research investigates the efficacy of a high-performance pilot-scale Internal Circulation Anaerobic Reactor inoculated with Granular Sludge (ICAGSR) for treating cattle slaughterhouse wastewater while con...

Hindering the biofilm of microbial pathogens and cancer cell lines development using silver nanoparticles synthesized by epidermal mucus proteins from Clarias gariepinus

Scientists know very little about the mechanisms underlying fish skin mucus, despite the fact that it is a component of the immune system. Fish skin mucus is an important component of defence against invasive ...

3D printing of Ceffe-infused scaffolds for tailored nipple-like cartilage development

The reconstruction of a stable, nipple-shaped cartilage graft that precisely matches the natural nipple in shape and size on the contralateral side is a clinical challenge. While 3D printing technology can eff...

A cleavable peptide adapter augments the activity of targeted toxins in combination with the glycosidic endosomal escape enhancer SO1861

Treatment with tumor-targeted toxins attempts to overcome the disadvantages of conventional cancer therapies by directing a drug’s cytotoxic effect specifically towards cancer cells. However, success with targ...

Multiprotein collagen/keratin hydrogel promoted myogenesis and angiogenesis of injured skeletal muscles in a mouse model

Volumetric loss is one of the challenging issues in muscle tissue structure that causes functio laesa . Tissue engineering of muscle tissue using suitable hydrogels is an alternative to restoring the physiological...

Analysis of the impact of pluronic acid on the thermal stability and infectivity of AAV6.2FF

The advancement of AAV vectors into clinical testing has accelerated rapidly over the past two decades. While many of the AAV vectors being utilized in clinical trials are derived from natural serotypes, engin...

Rice yellow mottle virus is a suitable amplicon vector for an efficient production of an anti-leishmianiasis vaccine in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves

Since the 2000’s, plants have been used as bioreactors for the transient production of molecules of interest such as vaccines. To improve protein yield, “amplicon” vectors based on plant viruses are used. Thes...

Extraction and analysis of high-quality chloroplast DNA with reduced nuclear DNA for medicinal plants

Obtaining high-quality chloroplast genome sequences requires chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) samples that meet the sequencing requirements. The quality of extracted cpDNA directly impacts the efficiency and accuracy o...

Transcriptomic and targeted metabolomic analyses provide insights into the flavonoids biosynthesis in the flowers of Lonicera macranthoides

Flavonoids are one of the bioactive ingredients of Lonicera macranthoides ( L. macranthoides ), however, their biosynthesis in the flower is still unclear. In this study, combined transcriptomic and targeted metabo...

The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Biotechnology 2024 24 :33

Effects of solid lipid nanocarrier containing methyl urolithin A by coating folate-bound chitosan and evaluation of its anti-cancer activity

Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems have received much attention over the past decade. In the present study, we synthesized Methyl Urolithin A-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles decorated with the folic a...

Neq2X7: a multi-purpose and open-source fusion DNA polymerase for advanced DNA engineering and diagnostics PCR

Thermostable DNA polymerases, such as Taq isolated from the thermophilic bacterium Thermus aquaticus , enable one-pot exponential DNA amplification known as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, properties oth...

A solution for highly efficient electroporation of primary cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are central players in the adaptive immune response. Their functional characterization and clinical research depend on efficient and reliable transfection. Although various metho...

Adsorption of Hg 2+ /Cr 6+ by metal-binding proteins heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli

Removal of heavy metals from water and soil is a pressing challenge in environmental engineering, and biosorption by microorganisms is considered as one of the most cost-effective methods. In this study, the m...

Derivation of a novel antimicrobial peptide from the Red Sea Brine Pools modified to enhance its anticancer activity against U2OS cells

Cancer associated drug resistance is a major cause for cancer aggravation, particularly as conventional therapies have presented limited efficiency, low specificity, resulting in long term deleterious side eff...

Polyphyllin B inhibited STAT3/NCOA4 pathway and restored gut microbiota to ameliorate lung tissue injury in cigarette smoke-induced mice

Smoking was a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study plan to explore the mechanism of Polyphyllin B in lung injury induced by cigarette smoke (CSE) in COPD.

Quantifying carboxymethyl lysine and carboxyethyl lysine in human plasma: clinical insights into aging research using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The objective of this study was to establish a methodology for determining carboxymethyl lysine (CML) and carboxyethyl lysine (CEL) concentrations in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectr...

Iron/Copper/Phosphate nanocomposite as antimicrobial, antisnail, and wheat growth-promoting agent

One of the current challenges is to secure wheat crop production to meet the increasing global food demand and to face the increase in its purchasing power. Therefore, the current study aimed to exploit a new ...

Staphopain mediated virulence and antibiotic resistance alteration in co-infection of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa : an animal model

Polymicrobial communities lead to worsen the wound infections, due to mixed biofilms, increased antibiotic resistance, and altered virulence production. Promising approaches, including enzymes, may overcome th...

Strain-specific features of Pleurotus ostreatus growth in vitro and some of its biological activities

The production of Pleurotus ostreatus mycelium as a promising object for use in food and other industries is hampered by a lack of information about the strain-specificity of this fungus mycelium growth and its a...

Antibacterial, antibiofilm, and anticancer activity of silver-nanoparticles synthesized from the cell-filtrate of Streptomyces enissocaesilis

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) have a unique mode of action as antibacterial agents in addition to their anticancer and antioxidant properties. In this study, microbial nanotechnology is employed to synthesize ...

Deep orange gene editing triggers temperature-sensitive lethal phenotypes in Ceratitis capitata

The Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata , is a significant agricultural pest managed through area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) including a sterile insect technique (SIT) component. Male-only re...

Characterization, modeling, and anticancer activity of L.arginase production from marine Bacillus licheniformis OF2

L-arginase, is a powerful anticancer that hydrolyzes L-arginine to L-ornithine and urea. This enzyme is widely distributed and expressed in organisms like plants, fungi, however very scarce from bacteria. Our ...

Green and environmentally friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles with antibacterial properties from some medicinal plants

Recently there have been a variety of methods to synthesize silver nanoparticles, among which the biosynthesis method is more noticeable due to features like being eco-friendly, simple, and cost-efficient. The...

Reaping the benefits of liquid handlers for high-throughput gene expression profiling in a marine model invertebrate

Modern high-throughput technologies enable the processing of a large number of samples simultaneously, while also providing rapid and accurate procedures. In recent years, automated liquid handling workstation...

Induction of antimicrobial, antioxidant metabolites production by co-cultivation of two red-sea-sponge-associated Aspergillus sp. CO2 and Bacillus sp. COBZ21

The growing spread of infectious diseases has become a potential global health threat to human beings. According to WHO reports, in this study, we investigated the impact of co-cultivating the isolated endophy...

A novel starch-active lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase discovered with bioinformatics screening and its application in textile desizing

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) catalyzing the oxidative cleavage of different types of polysaccharides have potential to be used in various industries. However, AA13 family LPMOs which specificall...

Tuning spacer length improves the functionality of the nanobody-based VEGFR2 CAR T cell

The chimeric antigen receptor-expressing T (CAR-T) cells for cancer immunotherapy have obtained considerable clinical importance. CAR T cells need an optimized intracellular signaling domain to get appropriate...

Fabrication and characterization of metformin-loaded PLGA/Collagen nanofibers for modulation of macrophage polarization for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

In tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine, the accessibility of engineered scaffolds that modulate inflammatory states is extremely necessary. The aim of the current work was to assess the efficacy ...

Production of a potential multistrain probiotic in co-culture conditions using agro-industrial by-products-based medium for fish nutrition

Probiotics are viable microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer health benefits to the host. In fish, probiotic administration has improved growth, and immunological parameters. For this...

Research on the targeted improvement of the yield of a new VB 12 -producing strain, Ensifer adhaerens S305, based on genomic and transcriptomic analysis

Vitamin B 12 (VB 12 ) has a wide range of applications and high economic value. In this study, a new strain with high VB 12 production potential, Ensifer adhaerens S305, was identified in sewage. Because E. adhaerens

Validation and calibration of a novel GEM biosensor for specific detection of Cd 2+ , Zn 2+ , and Pb 2+

In this study, we designed a novel genetic circuit sensitive to Cd 2+ , Zn 2+ and Pb 2+ by mimicking the CadA/CadR operon system mediated heavy metal homeostasis mechanism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The regular DNA m...

Exploring the microbial diversity and characterization of cellulase and hemicellulase genes in goat rumen: a metagenomic approach

Goat rumen microbial communities are perceived as one of the most potential biochemical reservoirs of multi-functional enzymes, which are applicable to enhance wide array of bioprocesses such as the hydrolysis...

The transcriptional factor Clr-5 is involved in cellulose degradation through regulation of amino acid metabolism in Neurospora crassa

Filamentous fungi are efficient degraders of plant biomass and the primary producers of commercial cellulolytic enzymes. While the transcriptional regulation mechanisms of cellulases have been continuously exp...

An online soft sensor method for biochemical reaction process based on JS-ISSA-XGBoost

A method combining offline techniques and the just-in-time learning strategy (JITL) is proposed, because the biochemical reaction process often encounters changing features and parameters over time.

Preparation, purification, and biochemical of fat-degrading bacterial enzymes from pig carcass compost and its application

A lot of kitchen waste oil is produced every day worldwide, leading to serious environmental pollution. As one of the environmental protection methods, microorganisms are widely used treating of various wastes...

Coupling fermentation of glutamic acid and γ-polyglutamic acid and preparation of poly(amino acid) superabsorbent polymers

γ-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a biomarker that can be directly obtained by microbial fermentation. Poly(amino acid) superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) were prepared with purified γ-PGA as raw material and ethylen...

Serodiagnosis of human brucellosis by an indirect ELISA test using recombinant outer membrane protein 19 kDa (rOMP19) as an antigen

Brucellosis remains one of the global health concerns that reemerges in recent years. Delayed or inaccurate diagnosis end to a long treatment duration and financial burden; therefore, finding a good antigen fo...

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The first gene-editing treatment: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024

Sickle-cell disease is the first illness to be beaten by CRISPR, but the new treatment comes with an expected price tag of $2 to $3 million.

• Antonio Regalado archive page

CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, Precision BioSciences, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

The first gene-editing cure has arrived. Grateful patients are calling it “life changing.”

It was only 11 years ago that scientists first developed the potent DNA-snipping technology called CRISPR. Now they’ve brought CRISPR out of the lab and into real medicine with a treatment that cures the symptoms of sickle-cell disease.

Sickle-cell is caused by inheriting two bad copies of one of the genes that make hemoglobin. Symptoms include bouts of intense pain, and life expectancy with the disease is just 53 years. It affects 1 in 4,000 people in the US, nearly all of them African-American. 

So how did this disease become CRISPR’s first success ? A fortuitous fact of biology is part of the answer. Our bodies harbor another way to make hemoglobin that turns off when we’re born. Researchers found that a simple DNA edit to cells from the bone marrow could turn it back on.

Many CRISPR treatments are in trials, but in 2022, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, based in Boston, was first to bring one to regulators for approval. That treatment was for sickle-cell. After their bone marrow was edited, nearly all the patients who volunteered in the trial were pain free. 

Good news. But the expected price tag of the gene-editing treatment is $2 to $3 million. And Vertex has no immediate plans to offer it in Africa—where sickle-cell disease is most common, and where it still kills children.

The company says this is because the treatment regimen is so complex. It involves a hospital stay; doctors remove the bone marrow, edit the cells, and then transplant them back. In countries that still struggle to cover basic health needs, the procedure remains too demanding. So simpler, cheaper ways to deliver CRISPR could come next. 

Biotechnology and health

What’s next for mdma.

The FDA is poised to approve the notorious party drug as a therapy. Here’s what it means, and where similar drugs stand in the US. 

• Cassandra Willyard archive page

FDA advisors just said no to the use of MDMA as a therapy

The studies demonstrating MDMA’s efficacy against PTSD left experts with too many questions to greenlight the treatment.

Beyond Neuralink: Meet the other companies developing brain-computer interfaces

Companies like Synchron, Paradromics, and Precision Neuroscience are also racing to develop brain implants

My biotech plants are dead

Two ‘Firefly petunias’ perished in a shipping misadventure, but other customers have had better luck.

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Last update: Jun 7, 2024

Biotechnology news

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Research team uses CRISPR/Cas9 to alter photosynthesis for the first time

A team from the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) has produced an increase in gene expression in a food crop by changing its upstream regulatory DNA. While other studies have used ...

Biotechnology

Jun 7, 2024

Engineered nanocomplexes achieve systemic gene silencing in crops

Gene silencing in plants has faced significant challenges, primarily due to the difficulty of transporting RNA molecules across plant cell membranes and achieving systemic effects. Traditional genetic engineering methods ...

A novel spray device helps researchers capture fast-moving cell processes

Cells are the basic units of life—but many of their fundamental processes happen so fast and at such small length scales that current scientific tools and methods can't keep up, preventing us from developing a deeper understanding.

Cell & Microbiology

Jun 6, 2024

New egg decontamination method preserves nutritional quality

Scientists with the University of Saskatchewan (USask) used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at USask to study a promising new technique for decontaminating eggs and recently published their findings. The work is published ...

AI plus gene editing promises to shift biotech into high gear

During her chemistry Nobel Prize lecture in 2018, Frances Arnold said, "Today we can for all practical purposes read, write and edit any sequence of DNA, but we cannot compose it." That isn't true anymore.

Silkworms help grow better organ-like tissues in labs

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a silk-based, ultrathin membrane that can be used in organ-on-a-chip models to better mimic the natural environment of cells and tissues within the body. When used in ...

In situ microscopy gives atomic-level view of mitochondria

Novel high-resolution microscopy technology is allowing researchers to see for the first time the dynamic processes of respiration in a native membrane environment at the atomic level. The new technique could help researchers ...

Researchers harness drones and AI to monitor invasive stink bugs

Researchers in Italy have unveiled the first successful application of commercial drones combined with artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor the invasive agricultural pest, Halyomorpha halys, commonly known as the brown ...

Jun 5, 2024

Large-scale study reveals functional diversity of DNA transposons and expands genome engineering toolbox

In a study published in Cell, a research team led by Zhang Yong'e and Wang Haoyi from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has characterized the diversity of DNA transposons and expanded the genome ...

Researchers identify tomato exocarp-specific promoter for genetic enhancements

In a triumph for precision agriculture, researchers have pinpointed a tomato exocarp-specific promoter, unlocking the potential for tailored genetic enhancements. This innovation promises to bolster the fruit's visual appeal, ...

Jun 4, 2024

New method for safe and efficient cell transfection developed by researchers

Transfection is the process of deliberately introducing nucleic acids into cells. Cell transfection is crucial in the fields of T cell and stem cell therapy. However, the existing transfection technology still faces challenges ...

Scientists push single-molecule DNA sequencing to the next level

In recent years, technologies that allow scientists to study a person's DNA at single-molecule resolution have vastly expanded our knowledge of the human genome, the microbiome, and the genetic basis of disease. With such ...

Precision nutrition for dairy cattle: Can robots help?

Feeding livestock today is not a matter of flinging some hay or silage in a stall and hoping for the best.

Jun 3, 2024

AI goes underwater: Transforming coral reef conservation with cutting-edge image analysis

Coral reefs, nurturing hubs of marine biodiversity, are grappling with mounting threats from environmental shifts. Traditional monitoring techniques, often laborious and invasive, are proving inadequate in the face of rapid ...

Scientists develop new method to match genes to their molecular 'switches'

Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have developed a new computational method for linking molecular marks on our DNA to gene activity. Their work may help researchers connect genes to the molecular "switches" ...

AI tool for predicting protein shapes could be transformative for medicine, but science needs proof

An advanced algorithm that has been developed by Google DeepMind has gone some way to cracking one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in biology. AlphaFold aims to predict the 3D structures of proteins from the "instruction ...

Engineering cells to broadcast their behavior can help scientists study their inner workings

Waves are ubiquitous in nature and technology. Whether it's the rise and fall of ocean tides or the swinging of a clock's pendulum, the predictable rhythms of waves create a signal that is easy to track and distinguish from ...

Study identifies fungus that breaks down ocean plastic

A fungus living in the sea can break down the plastic polyethylene, provided it has first been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. Researchers from, among others, NIOZ published their results in the journal Science of ...

Scientists propose zero-shot universal microscopic image AI processing method

Based on the noise model of microscopic images and the zero-sample learning theory, researchers led by Prof. Li Dong from the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. Dai Qionghai's ...

Meet Neo Px: the super plant that attacks air pollution

It may look like an innocent green plant, but its name evokes something far closer to a robot or interstellar rocket.

Plants & Animals

Jun 2, 2024

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How giant earthworms have transformed the Isle of Rum's landscape

New method could allow multi-robot teams to autonomously and reliably explore other planets.

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Virgin Galactic completes final spaceflight before two-year pause

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Maps of heavy metals in Wellington, New Zealand soils show impacts of urbanization

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Study finds fresh water and key conditions for life appeared on Earth a half-billion years earlier than thought

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Ancient medicine blends with modern-day research in new tissue regeneration method

New modified CRISPR protein can fit inside virus used for gene therapy

New method could significantly reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

Drones offer new perspective on vulnerable tide-exposed coral reefs

Sea urchins made to order: Scientists make transgenic breakthrough

Stem cell research reveals new clues to tissue repair that could help heal the uterus and more

Fully automated detection robot promotes efficient soil testing

Food safety, quality review summarizes sustainable seafood preservation to minimize waste, losses

Q&A: How to make sustainable products faster with artificial intelligence and automation

Researchers elucidate the spatial structure and molecular mechanisms of 'prime editor,' a novel gene-editing tool

Insect frass becomes food for protein-rich microalgae

GPT's inaccuracies in agriculture could lead to crop losses and food crises

Scientists develop computer vision framework to track animals in the wild without markers

You leave a 'microbe fingerprint' on every piece of clothing you wear—and it could help forensic scientists solve crimes

Observing mammalian cells with superfast soft X-rays

Researchers achieve parallel measurement of multiple water parameters with single sensor chip

New technique enables successful cultivation of stem cells on the surface of ionic liquids

West Coast seabird study shows how they might one day share the air with wind turbines

Research improves multiplex mutagenesis to increase experimental efficiency in plant genome editing

Packaged-meat labels that show freshness could replace use-by dates, reducing food waste

Nonreciprocal quantum batteries exhibit remarkable capacities and efficiency

Saturday Citations: Praising dogs; the evolution of brown fat; how SSRIs relieve depression. Plus: Boeing's Starliner

New method optimizes lithium extraction from seawater and groundwater

Researcher suggests that gravity can exist without mass, mitigating the need for hypothetical dark matter

Study suggests evolutionary basis for male risk-taking behaviors

Rare 7-foot fish washed ashore on Oregon's coast garners worldwide attention

Cascadia Subduction Zone, one of Earth's top hazards, comes into sharper focus

Quantum chemistry and simulation help characterize coordination complex of elusive element 61

New research finds lake under Mars ice cap unlikely

Cutting-edge mathematics provides new tool for particle collision puzzle

California wildfire pollution killed 52,000 in a decade: study

A protein that enables smell in ants—and stops cell death

Scientists create world's strongest iron-based superconducting magnet using AI

First ever report of two ancient ape species cohabiting in Miocene Europe 11 million years ago

Mapping noise to improve quantum measurements

Researchers discover Earth and space share the same turbulence

Perturbations simplify the study of 'super photons'

One essential step for a germ cell, one giant leap for the future of reproductive medicine

Building artificial cells to measure energy flow in living systems

Researchers: We're helping farmers access future climate projections as easily as checking the weather

Actin research shows how butterfly wings get their vibrant colors

Scientists introduce DIProT—an interactive deep learning toolkit for efficient protein design

A new chapter in grape cultivation: Non-transgenic plant regeneration technology

Comparison of four methods on drying efficiency and physicochemical properties of chicken meat

From fungi to fashion: Mushroom eco-leather is moving towards the mainstream

Researchers in Portugal develop an image analysis AI platform to boost worldwide research

Researchers use machine-learning modeling tools to improve zinc-finger nuclease editing technology

QUIET: A place to study qubits shielded from the effects of cosmic rays

DNA in the feces of snow leopards shows alpine cats eat plants

Tree hidey-holes key to helping slow declines of small mammals

Basic income can double global GDP while reducing carbon emissions, analysis suggests

Study adds new sea cucumber species to the research toolbox

Ancient crustal weaknesses contribute to modern earthquakes in West Africa, study finds

Untapped power: Logical operations using RNA droplets

Wildfire smoke reached 99% of US lakes in 2019–2021: Study introduces 'lake-smoke day' metric

Researchers engineer new approach for controlling thermal emission

Machine learning helps find advantageous combination of salts and organic solvents for easier anti-icing operations

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Biotechnology News

Biotechnology is a field of science that harnesses cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet. This discipline combines biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering to manipulate living organisms and biological systems, often using genetic engineering and other forms of molecular biology. Biotechnology has a wide range of applications across various sectors including medicine, agriculture, industrial processes, and environmental management.

Biology June 4, 2024

Secret “Persimmon” Ingredient Could Boost Ethanol Production

Antioxidants sourced from natural origins enhance the growth of a yeast strain in the presence of ethanol. While ethanol in alcoholic drinks can impair motor…

Technology June 1, 2024

15 Years in the Making – Scientists Invent “Living Bioelectronics” That Can Heal Skin

Scientists develop flexible, adaptable, and storable patch that combines bacteria and sensors to interface with the body. Researchers have created “living bioelectronics,” a device combining…

Technology May 29, 2024

Sweat Smart: New Biomarker Tech Revolutionizes Health Monitoring

Successful clinical testing on pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis using a flexible device enabling sweat gland stimulation and simultaneous biosensing. Two-year collaborative research between KIST…

Technology May 11, 2024

Revolutionary AI Device Mimics Human Brain With Few-Molecule Computing

Progress in developing compact AI devices using molecular vibrations and confirming their functionality A collaborative research team from NIMS and Tokyo University of Science has…

Health May 8, 2024

Cambridge’s Flexible Implants Promise New Hope for Paralysis Patients

A tiny, flexible electronic device that wraps around the spinal cord could represent a new approach to the treatment of spinal injuries, which can cause…

Chemistry May 6, 2024

AI Transforms Drug Discovery With Faster, Safer Cancer Treatments

The new platform helped UC San Diego scientists synthesize 32 potential multi-target cancer drugs. Scientists at UC San Diego have developed a machine learning algorithm…

Biology May 1, 2024

Crafting Programmable Living Materials With Synthetic Biology & 3D Printing

New study uses 3D printing and genetically modified plant cells to create complex, self-repairing materials that could revolutionize biomanufacturing and construction. Scientists are harnessing cells…

Science April 30, 2024

CRISPR-Crafted Cuisine: How Genetic Engineering Is Changing What We Eat

Hacking the genome of fungi for smart foods of the future. With animal-free dairy products and convincing vegetarian meat substitutes already on the market, it’s…

Biology April 29, 2024

SpatialData: A Universal Framework for Advancing Spatial Biology

SpatialData is a freely accessible tool to unify and integrate data from different omics technologies accounting for spatial information, which can provide holistic insights into…

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Guest Essay

The Long-Overlooked Molecule That Will Define a Generation of Science

By Thomas Cech

Dr. Cech is a biochemist and the author of the forthcoming book “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” from which this essay is adapted.

From E=mc² to splitting the atom to the invention of the transistor, the first half of the 20th century was dominated by breakthroughs in physics.

Then, in the early 1950s, biology began to nudge physics out of the scientific spotlight — and when I say “biology,” what I really mean is DNA. The momentous discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 more or less ushered in a new era in science that culminated in the Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, which decoded all of our DNA into a biological blueprint of humankind.

DNA has received an immense amount of attention. And while the double helix was certainly groundbreaking in its time, the current generation of scientific history will be defined by a different (and, until recently, lesser-known) molecule — one that I believe will play an even bigger role in furthering our understanding of human life: RNA.

You may remember learning about RNA (ribonucleic acid) back in your high school biology class as the messenger that carries information stored in DNA to instruct the formation of proteins. Such messenger RNA, mRNA for short, recently entered the mainstream conversation thanks to the role they played in the Covid-19 vaccines. But RNA is much more than a messenger, as critical as that function may be.

Other types of RNA, called “noncoding” RNAs, are a tiny biological powerhouse that can help to treat and cure deadly diseases, unlock the potential of the human genome and solve one of the most enduring mysteries of science: explaining the origins of all life on our planet.

Though it is a linchpin of every living thing on Earth, RNA was misunderstood and underappreciated for decades — often dismissed as nothing more than a biochemical backup singer, slaving away in obscurity in the shadows of the diva, DNA. I know that firsthand: I was slaving away in obscurity on its behalf.

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ASCO 2024 Round-Up: Some Of The Most Impactful Cancer News Out Of The Big Meeting

• AstraZeneca PLC showcased projects in two plenary lecture presentations at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, including a trial that established osimertinib as the standard of care for EGFR-mutant NSCLC.
• Bristol Myers Squibb presented the first efficacy results from the NADINA trial, showing that neoadjuvant immunotherapy with nivolumab plus ipilimumab reduced the risk of melanoma returning after surgery.
• Novartis' asciminib significantly improved the rate of major molecular response in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

picturegarden

When I was preparing my article on the biotech companies to watch at this year's Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, it was based on only the abstract titles and not much on the substance, just what we could glean from having different companies be present.

In following up on this, I wanted to prepare a post-mortem highlighting some of the presentations with a likely substantial impact on the coming year in cancer care. Certainly, many articles on Seeking Alpha are going to offer individual takes on relatively narrow bits of information focused on specific companies. In this article, I want to give a rundown of some of the most impactful or surprising findings to come out of the meeting, at least in my opinion.

This is not remotely a complete rundown of all the presentations of interest. I will be focusing mainly on the presentations I was looking forward to in the preview article, and giving some summary of how they shaped up.

AstraZeneca Steals the Show

AstraZeneca PLC ( AZN ) has been a dominating force of ASCO for years running, providing details of practice-changing findings, particularly within lung cancer. 2024 was no exception, as AZN showcased projects in 2 of the 5 plenary lecture presentations.

LAURA was a randomized, phase 3 trial taking patients with stage III unresectable, EGFR-mutant NSCLC and giving them standard of care chemoradiation therapy, followed by either placebo or osimertinib. Osimertinib treatment led to a decisive progression-free survival benefit over placebo (median 39.1 vs 5.6 months), with a most notable ability to apparently prevent the development of brain metastases in this high-risk group of patients.

This shifts the standard of care toward domination of osimertinib across nearly every disease stage for this EGFR-mutant population. The FLAURA and ADAURA trials have already established osimertinib as the standard of care in metastatic and operable cases, respectively. There are some questions about how long we truly need to be giving osimertinib (as highlighted by Dr. Sequist in the discussion, brain metastases appeared to be prevented only as long as osimertinib is continued, as evidenced by the ADAURA study). Also, osimertinib was associated with an increased risk of radiation pneumonitis, so there are considerations to balance, but overall this is a very positive result, continuing to support the use of osimertinib as a standard for EGFR-mutant NSCLC, now almost regardless of disease setting.

ADRIATIC was the second AZN trial to be featured in the plenary session. Here, patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer received standard chemoradiation therapy, followed by either consolidation durvalumab, durvalumab plus tremelimumab, or placebo. This presentation only included finding for durvalumab vs placebo, showing that immune checkpoint blockade in this setting could improve median OS by 22 months (55.9 vs 33.4 months). This came at only a modestly increased risk of radiation pneumonitis.

This puts durvalumab square in the sights as a standard of care for patients with limited stage SCLC, helping AZN continue to carve out this niche and distance itself from Roche's atezolizumab, which is approved (as is durvalumab) in combination with chemotherapy for extensive-stage (i.e., metastatic) small cell lung cancer.

Bristol Myers Squibb Might Become More Dominant in Resectable Melanoma

From an investor's standpoint, Bristol Myers Squibb Company ( BMY ) also had a critical presentation at the plenary lecture. Dr. Blank presented the first efficacy results from the NADINA trial, which is the first large, randomized study to assess whether it's better to give immunotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant) compared with the standard of care, which is to reserve checkpoint inhibitors for after surgery (adjuvant).

NADINA enrolled patients with stage III disease, and the long story made short was that giving nivolumab plus ipilimumab for 6 weeks before surgery led to a substantial reduction in the risk of melanoma returning after surgery. There are questions remaining about the censoring for the trial, but I think this is a clear path forward to get a first official approval for this strategy in this high-risk melanoma population. Moving some anti-PD-1 therapy to the neoadjuvant setting has already shown benefit for patients in this setting, so it seemed like a matter of time. However, this confirmation was extremely exciting, and I've seen various researchers on Twitter showing enthusiasm for neoadjuvant immunotherapy in other tumor settings.

And realistically, it could allow BMY to stake a claim as the immunotherapy to use for resectable melanoma, building on other neoadjuvant experience they've seen with different combinations like nivolumab and relatlimab.

From here, I want to turn our attention back to more disease-area focused studies. The plenary session seems to dominate the conversation year over year, but there are a lot of other things worth focusing on as well. Here's what caught my attention from ASCO 2024.

Lung Cancer

There were several significant threads in the lung cancer session, setting aside the general disappointment with Trop2-directed ADCs. First, a 5-year update of the CROWN study continues to suggest best-in-class activity for Pfizer's ( PFE ) ALK inhibitor lorlatinib, as overall survival continues to far outperform crizotinib, and the activity again tumors in the CNS continues to impress. There is controversy surrounding the use of crizotinib as a control, since second-generation ALK inhibitors have been standard treatment options for years, but this study continues to make a strong case for considering lorlatinib in the upfront setting for ALK-positive NSCLC.

Another exciting study was PALOMA-3, which compared Amgen Inc.'s ( AMGN ) lazertinib plus either subcutaneous amivantamab or the approved intravenous formulation for patients with EGFR-positive NSCLC. The study established that the pharmacokinetics of amivantamab were similar between the 2 formulations. Meanwhile, there was a numeric advantage for subcutaneous amivantamab in terms of PFS (6.1 vs 4.3 months for subcu and IV, respectively). Surprisingly, there was a rather strong signal of overall survival benefit with subcu amivantamab, with 12-month overall survival rates of 65% and 51%, respectively. Meanwhile, infusion reaction risk was dramatically reduced with subcu amivantamab (13% vs 66%), while other rates of adverse events were similar between the two arms. Venous thrombotic events were also reduced with subcu amivantamab.

These findings paint a clearly favorable picture for a future approval of subcutaneous amivantamab, and the combination looks like a strong candidate in the post-osimertinib disease relapse setting.

Finally, the ivonescimab trial HARMONi-A has made a fairly significant, though controversial, splash for EGFR-mutated NSCLC. I actually covered this study (and Summit Therapeutics ( SMMT )) in more detail in a recent article that I encourage you to check out if you are keen to learn more.

A final abstract of note was out of NovoCure Limited's ( NVCR ) stable. They presented findings from the METIS study , showing that their tumor-treating fields could significantly prolong time to intracranial progression in patients who have NSCLC and brain metastases. This continues to affirm the increasingly clear benefit that tumor-treating fields can have in patients with cancers affecting the brain.

Melanoma/Skin Cancers

RELATIVITY-048 provided a look at the use of BMY's nivolumab plus ipilimumab plus relatlimab in patients with advanced melanoma, showing a confirmed response rate of 59%, and 4-year survival rate of 72%. These findings compare reasonably well with historical data on nivo-ipi and nivo-rela on their own, but we need larger studies to validate this benefit, considering the high rate of immune-related adverse events.

The Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. ( IOVA ) cell therapy lifileucel was also highlighted here, combining the treatment with pembrolizumab in checkpoint inhibitor-naive melanoma. The response rate to this combination was 65.2%, with 30.4% of patients achieving a complete response. The median duration of response was not reached after median follow-up of 21.7 months. This compares favorably with a benchmark ~33% response rate for pembrolizumab alone in this setting. IOVA is conducting a phase 3 trial, TILVANCE-301, to confirm these findings and possibly establish a new standard of care for metastatic melanoma.

Building on my article about Moderna, Inc.'s ( MRNA ) neoantigen vaccine, the company had updated findings from their phase 2b study , with mRNA-4157 plus pembrolizumab showing a 49% reduction in recurrence-free survival and 62% reduction in distant metastasis compared with pembrolizumab alone. In all, 96% of patients remain alive in the study, giving a signal that mRNA-4157 could have a survival advantage over pembrolizumab, which would be a first. Per commentary on a company investor event to discuss these findings.

one of the things that I've said about this technology overall for [individualized neoantigen therapy, INT] is that it really sits at this precipice and interface of technological advancement with next-generation sequencing and our understanding of cancer biology. And not only is that showcased in what we're achieving for INT, but it's also showcased with how we're designing our studies to learn about what INT can do and how we're sitting sort of at that peak of technological advancement.

Hematologic Malignancies

The biggest study coming out of ASCO for blood cancer was arguably presentation of ASC4FIRST, a phase 3 trial of Novartis AG's ( NVS ) next-generation Abl inhibitor asciminib versus other frontline TKIs in patients with CML. Asciminib significantly improved the rate of major molecular response at week 48, one of the co-primary endpoints of the study (67.7% vs 49.0%). Most of this was derived from improvement versus imatinib treatment, but there was a numerically higher rate of major molecular response for asciminib compared with second-generation TKIs, as well (66.0% vs 57.8%). Asciminib was also associated with lower rates of grade 3 or higher adverse events, particularly those AEs leading to treatment interruption or discontinuation.

These findings suggest that asciminib could well be the frontline Abl inhibitor of choice for the future of CML management, and further follow-up will provide us more information on that front. In an investor event , the NVS Head of Oncology Jeff Legos had this to say in summary and comment:

Scemblix had demonstrated superior efficacy with a favorable and safety tolerability profile. In particular, the data that we presented and highlighted demonstrated that Scemblix had superior major molecular response rates relative to the investigator selected TKIs and also relative to imatinib alone. ...And then lastly, in terms of our regulatory progress overall, we have actually completed the process or the package for the FDA submission. It is being reviewed under real time oncology review. And then lastly, we will continue our global submissions planned in the second half of 2024 and into 2025.

The update of MANIFEST-2, focusing on MorphoSys AG's ( MOR ) pelabresib, continued to affirm the combo's ability to reduce the spleen size in patients with myelofibrosis, although symptom score reductions continue to not meet statistical significance. There is ongoing discussion about the limitations of symptom score assessment, and time will tell if failing to meet this endpoint will be a big problem for approval of pelabresib. I'm sanguine, personally, since key opinion leaders feel like the symptom score endpoint was a more regulatory add-on, and not necessarily one that tells us whether pelabresib has a real place in myelofibrosis management.

Breast Cancer

Eli Lilly and Company's ( LLY ) abemaciclib was the subject of the first late-breaker for the breast sessions. In postMONARCH, adding abemaciclib to fulvestrant was shown to improve progression-free survival compared with fulvestrant alone in patients with hormone-positive metastatic breast cancer and progression on prior treatment, including a CDK4/6 inhibitor. This is the first randomized indication that a continuing with CDK4/6 inhibition beyond progression can be a benefit for patients.

In a late-breaking abstract, addition of pembrolizumab to sacituzumab govitecan did not improve progression-free survival in patients with hormone-positive advanced breast cancer following at least 1 prior line of endocrine therapy. However, there was a signal of benefit in patients who had PD-L1 positive tumors (median PFS, 11.1 vs 6.7 months), suggesting a way forward for this combination in future studies.

Another big study of focus at the meeting was DESTINY-Breast06, which indicated that Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited's ( OTCPK:DSNKY ) trastuzumab deruxtecan could improve median PFS over treatment of physician's choice in patients with metastatic HER2-low and -ultralow breast cancer. These patients had to have no prior chemotherapy, but they could have received endocrine therapy and/or CDK4/6 inhibitors. This marks what is likely going to be yet another label expansion for the blockbuster HER2 drug, and it adds more fuel to the fire that a well-designed antibody-drug conjugate can have activity even outside the context of high tumor expression of the antigen of interest.

Developmental Therapies

Novel ADCs were featured fairly prominently in this session, including entries from Merck ( MRK ), AbbVie ( ABBV ), and Shanghai Miracogen. The MRK entry, M9140, is a CEACAM5-directed ADC with an exatecan payload, which differs from Sanofi's terminated entry in the space.

M9140 was studied here in patients with metastatic CRC, showing a disease control rate of 65% and 7.5% response rate among 40 patients. No ocular toxicities were noted, and tolerability was mainly limited to GI adverse events that were mild.

There were quite a few other early projects covered in this session, but the KRAS inhibitors were a notable highlight. First was Lilly's KRAS G12C inhibitor olomorasib, a second-generation inhibitor. 184 patients were enrolled in their phase 1 study across a number of cohorts, mainly lung, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. These included patients with prior exposure to a KRAS inhibitor. The drug was well tolerated, with no grade 4 or 5 adverse events. In non-CRC tumors, the response rate was 35%, indicating encouraging early activity for this agent. Olomorasib also had preliminary activity against brain metastases.

The KRAS inhibitor developed by Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Group Co., Ltd. ( OTCPK:JBPHF ), glecirasib, was presented in combination with a SHP2 inhibitor. This presentation focused on updated safety and efficacy in frontline NSCLC with a KRAS G12C mutation. The confirmed response rate for this population was 64.7% across all dosage groups, suggesting substantial clinical activity for this combination. However, there was a high rate of grade 3/4 adverse events, occurring in 43.8% of these patients. This combination is now the subject of a phase 3 study comparing against chemo-IO for patients with metastatic NSCLC in China.

Highlights in the immunotherapy developmental therapeutics session included a CAR-T cell therapy against Claudin-18.2, being developed by CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited ( OTCPK:CRTHF ). In this group of patients with Claudin-18.2-positive GI cancers, almost everyone had grade 1 or 2 cytokine release syndromes, as well as high-grade adverse events related to the conditioning regimen. Across all treatment cohorts, the response rate was 38.8%, with 91.8% achieving disease control. For a distant reference, the Claudin antibody zolbetuximab plus chemotherapy in Claudin-positive gastric adenocarcinoma had a 53.8% response rate in the GLOW study .

Another agent of interest is Regeneron's ( REGN ) bispecific antibody targeting EGFR and CD28 in combination with cemiplimab in patients with advanced solid tumors, with microsatellite stable CRC as a point of focus. Disease control was noted in this population, including one patient with liver metastases (which typically corresponds with poor outcomes).

Colorectal Cancer

One of my favorite studies from a few years ago (you may remember the reporting on it in newspapers) was the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center experience using GSK plc's ( GSK ) dostarlimab in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer that has mismatch repair deficiency. 100% of the first handful of patients achieved a complete clinical response, and we've been waiting since then to see how the results shaped up. Dr. Cercek presented an update of this study as part of the rapid oral abstracts, showing that now there have been 42 patients treated in this setting, and all of them continue to have achieved complete remission. No patient to date has had a disease recurrence.

It's incredibly interesting, to say the least, and it bodes well for a future role of dostarlimab in this setting, even though the results are from a single-arm trial. The potential to have surgery/chemo/radiation-free cure of this very specific form of rectal cancer is incredible.

NEOPRISM-CRC operates on a similar premise, taking patients with mismatch repaired deficient, high-risk stage 2 or 3 colorectal cancer and giving neoadjuvant pembrolizumab.

Another study of high importance was CheckMate 8HW, which enrolled patients with mismatch repair deficient metastatic colorectal cancer to receive chemotherapy, nivolumab, or nivolumab plus ipilimumab. Nivo-ipi is the only arm we have results for so far, and this yielded a 24-month PFS rate of 72%, compared with 14% for chemotherapy alone. We still need to see the results of the nivolumab-only arm to get a clearer picture of whether the combo is worth the toxicity in terms of benefit.

A final colorectal cancer study worth touching on was ARC-9, looking at the Arcus Biosciences, Inc. ( RCUS ) drug etrumadenant in previously treated metastatic CRC. The combination of etrumadenant, zimberelimab, chemotherapy, and bevacizumab was shown to improve progression-free survival compared with regorafenib in patients with at most 2 prior lines of therapy in the metastatic setting (median PFS, 6.24 vs 2.07). The benefit was also present in patients who had baseline liver metastases, which I mentioned before is a feature predicting poor outcomes.

So we're seeing an important theme continue to evolve, finding the right spots for immunotherapy in colorectal cancer. It's welcome news in a space that has always had many setbacks, particularly with immunotherapy to date.

Other GI Tumors

There were quite a few studies of medical interest, and smaller studies asking specific questions in tumors like cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer. However, nothing that really moved the needle toward drug approvals just yet. One particular abstract of interest was LBA4008, which detailed findings from CheckMate 9DW. This phase 3 study takes patients with unresectable liver cancer (specifically HCC) and randomizes them to standard TKI therapy (sorafenib or lenvatinib) or nivolumab plus ipilimumab, followed by nivolumab maintenance.

Nivolumab-ipilimumab significantly improved overall survival for patients in this study, with medians of 23.7 and 20.6 for experimental and control arms, respectively. At 36 months, 38% of patients in the nivolumab-ipilimumab arm were still alive, compared with 24% for the standard of care arm. These findings suggest that the combo should be in the treatment option mix along with the TKIs, atezolizumab-bevacizumab (what many would argue is the real standard of care today), or the STRIDE regimen (single dose of tremelimumab followed by ongoing durvalumab).

Head and Neck Cancer

Anti-PD-1 therapies featured prominently in the head and neck session, with findings from DIPPER being presented as a late-breaking abstract. This study assessed the benefit of giving Elevar Therapeutics' camrelizumab (provided by Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals) after chemoradiation therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Camrelizumab improved event-free survival with a hazard ratio of 0.56, though interestingly, it took until 12 months after randomization for the curves to start to separate. Camrelizumab also showed signs of preventing distant metastasis and locoregional relapse.

Conclusion: Drinking from the fire hose

This was far from a comprehensive roundup of the studies at ASCO, even if we just tried to focus on those that are practice-changing or -informing. Posters were a notable absence, and a lot of potentially hidden gems can be found there (every approved drug seems to start as a poster at ASCO at some point). Obviously, immunotherapy continues to play a dominant role in cancer medicine, and interest remains high here, explaining the various surges we've seen over the course of 2024 regarding novel approaches that are showing promise.

Did you see anything that caught your attention at ASCO? I'd be happy to discuss in the comments section. Meanwhile, we're going to be picking apart these trial results for a long time to come, and it was definitely another successful year.

Editor's Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

This article was written by

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Vanda Pharmaceuticals has another suitor

By Meghana Keshavan June 7, 2024

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today?  Sign up  to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox.

Well, this wraps up one of the most eventful weeks of the biotech year — ASCO, followed by BIO. Anyone else as zonked as I am? Today, we discuss the impact that the BIOSECURE Act is already having on the industry, preview what FDA reviewers want to know about donanemab, and more.

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The need-to-know this morning

• The FDA approved  Geron ‘s drug  imetelstat  for certain patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, a type of slow-moving blood cancer.  Marketed as Rytelo, it’s the first drug to emerge from the once-ballyhooed company since its founding in 1990.

BIOSECURE shaking up partnerships at BIO

Although it isn’t yet a law, the BIOSECURE Act is already making waves in the biotech industry — as evidenced by some notable shifts at this week’s BIO International Convention in San Diego. STAT’s Jonathan Wosen and I were on site, and found that, with the possible blacklisting of certain Chinese suppliers looming, biotechs are scrambling to find alternatives to manufacturers like WuXi. Meantime, an executive at one U.S.-based CDMO said “month to month, new business has gone through the roof.”

The convention this year, despite billing itself as an international gathering, focused heavily on the importance of national security in biotech.

“Our customers are mainly small biotechs, and they’re very worried about whether they’ll be able to afford the U.S. CDMOs,” one China-based CDMO employee said. “They’re worried about backlogs, since the U.S. companies are suddenly so busy. My customers are telling me they’re already waiting in line to get a slot, in case we are put on the BIOSECURE list next.”

What FDA reviewers want to know about donanemab

On Monday, an FDA advisory committee will discuss the merits of donanemab, an experimental Alzheimer’s drug from Eli Lilly. Ahead of the meeting, FDA reviewers have posed some questions: Should the drug only be given to patients who are given PET scans to confirm the presence of tau proteins? That could reduce access to the drug substantially. And, of course, they ask, do the benefits outweigh the risks?

STAT’s Matthew Harper and Elaine Chen dive into what regulators seek to learn in the upcoming ad comm. It was a bit of a surprise that the meeting was called at all — the expectation was that donanemab would have a relatively simple FDA review process, given that Leqembi, a similar drug and a rival, has already been approved.

Psychedelics at the FDA, ASCO recap, & Morphosys

How did advisers react to the first psychedelic therapy to go before the Food and Drug Administration? And did the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting surpass expectations? We discuss that and more in this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD.”

Yours truly joined the podcast to dissect Lykos Therapeutics’ meeting with an FDA advisory committee. Adam and Allison also discussed the latest news in the health and life sciences, including stories from major biotech conferences.

Listen here.

A public bidding war is underway: Cycle Pharmaceuticals has offered $466 million — or $8 per share — to acquire Vanda Pharmaceuticals. Just a month back, the CDMO FuturePak offered $7.25 per share for the company, and then raised it to $7.75. Shares in Vanda rose 27% on news of its being courted again.

After not making a deal with the board behind closed doors, Cycle Pharma is attempting to force Vanda’s hand in a public arena: “While we would have preferred to reach an agreement privately, Cycle is publicly disclosing our proposal for the benefit of Vanda shareholders,” it said in a  statement .

• Italy opens antitrust case against Novartis, Roche and others, claiming collusion to delay biosimilar launch,  FiercePharma
• Nine years and four generics later, the HIV drug at the center of the Shkreli controversy still has a high price,  Endpoints
• Moderna’s mRNA candidate joins FDA’s accelerator program for rare diseases,  BioSpace

About the Author Reprints

Meghana keshavan.

Biotech Correspondent

Meghana Keshavan covers biotech and contributes to The Readout newsletter .

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• Lawrence P. Wackett

Dual-mode harvest solar energy for photothermal Cu 2-x Se biomineralization and seawater desalination by biotic-abiotic hybrid

Biotic-abiotic photosynthetic systems hold great promise to innovate solar-driven chemical transformation. Here, the authors construct a biotic-abiotic hybrid system composed of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and biogenic Se 0 nanoparticles for photothermal Cu 2-x Se biomineralization and then for seawater desalination.

• Sheng-Lan Gong
• YangChao Tian
• Li-Jiao Tian

Successful cultivation of edible fungi on textile waste offers a new avenue for bioremediation and potential food production

• Liberty Hazelgrove
• Suzy Clare Moody

News and Comment

The impact of a graduate training and career outlook program on diversity in the biotechnology sector

An intensive summer training program increased enrollment in a Master of Science in Biotechnology degree program, increasing awareness and opportunities among under-represented and underserved groups as a first step to transforming the biotech industry.

• Angelita P. Howard
• Liane S. Slaughter
• Rebecca McPherson

Designer catalytic nanopores meet PET nanoparticles

The search for novel biocatalysts for plastic degradation has recently become a hot topic. Now, multiple catalytic triads of well-known serine esterases were introduced into non-catalytic protein nanopores to enable the hydrolysis of PET nanoparticles.

• Uwe T. Bornscheuer

Bottlenecks and opportunities for synthetic biology biosafety standards

The lack of innovative standards for biosafety in synthetic biology is an unresolved policy gap that limits many potential applications in synthetic biology. We argue that a massive support for standardization in biosafety is required for synthetic biology to flourish.

• Michele Garfinkel
• Markus Schmidt

Constructive principles for gene editing oversight

• L. Val Giddings
• Richard J. Roberts

Responsible governance of gene editing in agriculture and the environment

• Doria R. Gordon
• Gregory Jaffe
• Melissa D. Ho

CO 2 fixation gets a second chance

Synthetic metabolic pathways that circumvent photorespiration can improve crop growth. Now, an efficient photorespiration bypass with a new-to-nature carboxylation step has been engineered and demonstrated in vitro.

• Markus Janasch
• Elton P. Hudson

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