| | | |   | Oh, hello. Today, we've got some news from ESMO, we see how Vertex is at the top of its game, and we encourage you to get boosted.
- Meghana | | | A new era for tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy TIL therapy, an approach to treating cancer first devised in the 1980s, is finally getting some validation. When it first emerged on the oncologic scene, it was quickly overshadowed by PD-1 inhibitors — but now, as STAT's Jason Mast writes, data presented at ESMO this weekend show that the cell therapy may be able to help patients who have run out of other options.
Data from 169 patients showed that TIL therapy halted cancer progression for 7.2 months, compared to 3.1 months in patients given an approved immunotherapy. Patients who received TIL lived for 25.8 months, compared to 18.9 months in the control arm, though these particular results aren’t yet considered statistically significant. TILs, short for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, are among the most simplistic forms of cell therapies. Researchers take a slice of a tumor, extract the T-cells that are already inside, replicate them in a lab, then re-infuse them into the patient. Although the approach is almost intuitive in its simplicity, there hasn’t been a single TIL therapy approved for the decades it’s been in existence. Today, however, an increasing number of biotechs and researchers are working on techniques to optimize TIL therapy — and bring it to the bedside. Read more. | Vertex is Boston’s top biotech Vertex Pharmaceuticals has become Boston’s most valuable biotech — with its stock rising 65 percent in just the past year. Other biopharma companies, lest you’ve forgotten, have not done particularly well in this brutal bear of a year. Vertex’s market cap soars over even Moderna’s: The company, which built its fortune on its innovative cystic fibrosis pills, is worth more than $75 billion. Biogen used to be the area’s most well-capitalized company, but its Alzheimer’s debacle has halved its value to $31 billion. As the Boston Globe's Ryan Cross writes, Vertex is becoming more and more attractive to investors, thanks to the higher-than-expected sales of the CF drugs — particularly since there isn’t much competition on the horizon. And it’s expanding into other areas, such as developing a non-addictive painkiller meant to be used as an alternative to opioids, a gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease, and even a stem cell-based therapy for type 1 diabetes. “The company is at a new inflection point today,” Vertex CEO Reshma Kewalramani said. “What we want to do is replicate what we’ve done in cystic fibrosis and transform, if not cure, multiple additional diseases.” Read more. | Protect Americans’ healthcare and genetic data from the Chinese government BGI has reentered the U.S. market for DNA sequencers. This will allow BGI to gain direct access to Americans’ health records and genetic data – posing a major threat to patient privacy and national security. This data could be used by the Chinese government to build stronger surveillance technology. The healthcare research community needs to ensure that individual genetic privacy is protected. Learn more at protectmypatientdata.com. | Will the FDA approve Bluebird’s CALD gene therapy? This week’s a big one for Bluebird Bio. By Friday, the Food and Drug Administration will decide whether to approve eli-cel, the struggling company’s gene therapy for a rare neurodegenerative decision called Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy, or CALD. In clinical trials, eli-cel kept 91% of kids alive and free of major disability for two years, but it also appeared to trigger cancer in three patients. An advisory committee in June unanimously recommended approval, voting the lifeline the therapy can offer patients outweighed its risks. The drug wouldn’t be a money maker for Bluebird — CALD is so rare, the company expects to treat only 10 patients a year — or answer the larger safety and financial questions facing the gene therapy field, but it would earn it its second FDA priority review voucher of the year. These vouchers can be sold for upwards of $100 million a piece, money Bluebird sorely needs as it navigates an uncertain future. | Just go ahead and get that Covid booster The arguments surrounding the new Covid boosters have been a bit insufferable. They can hold water, to be sure: Some argue that the FDA and the CDC approved the shots too quickly, relying on mouse data as opposed to human data. Others are concerned that they may wind up being less effective than the initial vaccines. Other quibbles are less plausible — claiming the vaccines made the pandemic worse, that they don’t even work. The social media-driven cacophony, STAT’s Matthew Herper writes, is drowning out the most important thing: That everyone who’s able should get a booster as soon as possible. The evidence continues to lean in the direction that these shots will save lives — so don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeve. Read more. | More reads - Biden appoints former government scientist as first leader of ARPA-H, STAT
- Siddhartha Mukherjee weaves history and biology to tell the story of us, New York Times
- Novartis drug shown to ease symptoms of painful skin condition, Reuters
| Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,  | | | |
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