A hidden cancer target turns up outside cells

There's something rather strange — and potentially useful — on the surface of cancer cells: Src, a famous cancer-driving protein that is supposed to live inside the cell. UCSF researchers have found that in malignant cells, dysfunctional lysosome recycling can cause Src to end up stuck on the outside of the cell membrane. This effectively exposes a classic oncogene to antibody-based therapies that normally can't reach intracellular targets, STAT's Angus Chen writes.

Immunotherapies depend on recognizable surface markers, which are plentiful in blood cancers but frustratingly rare in solid tumors. The new findings, published in Science, show that antibodies and a bispecific T-cell engager targeting surface Src could kill tumors — in mice.

But the preclinical promise here is tempered with plenty of questions — including whether the phenomenon occurs in healthy cells, and whether tumors could simply stop displaying the protein. But the work hints at a broader possibility: that other intracellular oncogenes may occasionally be "barfed" outward by stressed cancer cells, creating a new class of druggable immunotherapy targets.

podcast

Epstein's pal attempts a biotech comeback, and Prasad's FDA exit part deux

How was a known friend of Jeffrey Epstein able to raise $100 million, with the help of a prominent biotech VC? And will Vinay Prasad return to the Food and Drug Administration for a "three-peat"?

We discuss all that and more on the latest episode of "The Readout LOUD," STAT's weekly biotech podcast.

Damian Garde joins Allison, Adam, and Elaine to discuss his article about Boris Nikolic, a well-connected biotech investor with deep ties to Jeffrey Epstein who has raised a new biotech investment firm. The hosts also talk about Prasad's second exit from the FDA and a congressman's probing of the agency's rare disease drug denials. And they recap the detente between Novo Nordisk and Hims as well as Xenon Pharmaceuticals' promising seizure data.

Listen here.

drug pricing

Trump gets credit for drug-pricing push

Both the Trump and Biden administrations have tried to tackle high drug prices, but the public appears to be giving President Trump more credit. A new poll from KFF, released this morning, found that 41% of Americans believe Trump's policies will lower their prescription drug costs, including 79% of Republicans — but just 11% of Democrats.

The perception gap is striking, STAT's John Wilkerson writes, given that Democrats passed a sweeping law allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices — along with caps on insulin and out-of-pocket spending. Yet only 31% of Americans said they were aware of the program in a 2024 survey.

Trump, by contrast, has leaned heavily on voluntary deals with drugmakers and high-profile promotion, including a White House event for his "TrumpRx" discount website, which initially listed prices for just 43 drugs, many already available as inexpensive generics.

Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded the online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs, said Democrats are "awful salespeople."

"Democrats couldn't sell a dollar bill for 50 cents," he said this week during a panel discussion.

liquid biopsy

Grail CEO steps down after trial setback

Grail CEO Bob Ragusa will retire June 1, handing the reins to the company's president, Josh Ofman, in a planned leadership transition that comes just weeks after the company reported disappointing results from a closely watched trial of its flagship cancer detection test.

Ragusa, who helped steer Grail through its spinout from Illumina and scale commercialization of its Galleri blood test, will remain on the board until June and serve as an adviser through early 2027.

The leadership change follows a setback for Galleri, which failed to meet the main goal of a massive National Health Service trial designed to show the test could shift cancers to earlier stages at diagnosis. The result rattled investors and intensified debate over the promise of multi-cancer early detection tests.

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