Accidental data release by Roche boosts immunotherapy hopes; Apellis probe IDs possible cause of severe drug side effect

Taking stock of the drug industry, from the lab to the medicine chest

August 23, 2023 Check out STAT+

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By Ed Silverman Pharmalot Columnist, Senior Writer

SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images STAT+ | An accidental data release by Roche boosts some hopes for anti-TIGIT cancer immunotherapies The multibillion-dollar hunt for what many drugmakers hope will be the next big immunotherapy target has had no shortage of twists and tea-leaf-reading. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, it got another. Roche confirmed it accidentally released interim data from a closely watched clinical trial testing whether blocking that target — a protein on T cells known as TIGIT — can enable non-small lung cancer patients to live longer than standard immunotherapy alone. By Jason Mast STAT+ | Apellis safety probe of eye disease drug identifies injection needle as possible cause of severe side effect The needles are a possible cause of cases of severe inflammation — but the company stopped short of establishing a causal relationship. By Adam Feuerstein STAT+ | Ron DeSantis wants to import drugs from Canada. Biden's FDA just blasted his plan Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has ballyhooed a plan to import Canadian drugs. But odds are long for its approval. By John Wilkerson Jacob King/WPA Pool via Getty Images CDC says it's too soon to assess risk posed by new Covid subvariant In a statement about the BA.2.86 subvariant, the CDC also revealed that updated Covid vaccines should be available as early as mid-September. By Helen Branswell New study suggests people who tested negative for Covid-19 can still develop long Covid Because of limited testing at the pandemic's outset, people may be dealing with long Covid without having ever received a Covid-19 diagnosis. By Annalisa Merelli

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