| |   | And it's Meghana again. We've got some liquid biopsy drama today, along with a first peek at ASCO offerings, and more. Also: a quick note that we'll be pausing the newsletter on Monday in observance of Memorial Day in the U.S. | | | Guardant wants Illumina’s lawsuit dismissed Guardant Health is firing back at claims that it stole trade secrets from competitor Illumina. It’s asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed two months ago by the gene sequencing giant, arguing that its allegations are too vague. Instead, it says that Illumina — which just acquired liquid biopsy company Grail for $8 billion — is attempting to monopolize a fast-growing sector. “This action is a brazen attempt by Illumina to put its chief rival out of business and stifle competition in the market for life-saving cancer technologies,” wrote Guardant’s lawyers. “Illumina’s anti-competitive tactics are an abuse of the court system. Its claims against Guardant should be dismissed as a matter of law.” Read more. | Which vaccine for the youngest kids? What’s on tap for ASCO, the biggest cancer research conference of the year? And a biotech CEO has been arrested in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme. We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. First, we chat about the latest news in the life sciences, including a preview of the American Society for Clinical Oncology annual meeting, a biotech analyst’s speculative picks for a new Biogen CEO, the arrest of Enochian Biosciences CEO on murder charges, and mounting concerns about Covid rebound following treatment with Paxlovid. Then, we’re joined by emergency department physician and parent Jeremy Faust to discuss his take on the Covid vaccine data for children under 5. Read more. | Sign up for our free pop-up newsletter: ADA in 30 seconds Get insightful analysis of the data presented at the conference of the American Diabetes Association with this newsletter. STAT will be on top of all the news out of the event and will recap the most important advances in research and care for you from June 4-6. Sign up now. | On scaling a monkeypox vaccine The FDA approved a monkeypox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic back in 2019. Today, the company is suddenly in the spotlight, as it works to scale up production of the vaccine to meet this potential new global health concern.
CEO Paul Chaplin spoke with STAT, describing how the company’s monkeypox vaccine — which also prevents smallpox — came into being, and how it might be used moving forward. It’s unclear still if countries will mobilize to vaccinate against monkeypox en masse, but preparing for this possibility is a substantial undertaking: “It’s pretty clear our manufacturing facility could not handle demand for every one person on the globe,” Chaplin said. Read more. | How strong are Mirati’s KRAS drug results? Final results from Mirati Therapeutics’ clinical trial for KRAS-targeting cancer drug adagrasib could both help and hurt chances to distinguish itself from rival Amgen. Mirati’s experimental drug shrank tumors in 43% of patients with advanced lung cancer — higher than the 37% response rate from Amgen, whose KRAS drug Lumakras was approved last year.
However, Amgen’s drug might have a longer potency in shrinking tumors. Median durability for adagrasib was 8.5 months, while Amgen’s KRAS drug was 11.1 months. The data were included in a research abstract that was released in advance of next week’s ASCO meeting. Read more. | Preparing for Paxlovid resistance Covid-19 hasn’t yet developed resistance to Pfizer’s antiviral pill Paxlovid, but the clock is ticking. “At some point, there will be a Paxlovid-resistant virus,” one virologist said. “Whether that clinically becomes a problem or not, it’s hard to say.” Like antibiotics, the drug’s viability will shorten depending on if it’s either over-prescribed or under-prescribed. “People shouldn’t be taking Paxlovid unless they bloody need it,” another virologist told STAT. Ultimately, new drug combinations might be necessary to enhance Paxlovid’s efficacy.
Read more. | More reads - GSK’s T-cell tech zooms in on immune disease risk FierceBiotech
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| Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,  | | | |
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