Houston’s M.D. Anderson, Theraclone Launch Immunotherapy Startup
Summary
“It could provide us with a way to increase success rates in treating cancer.” Immunotherapy, which involves stimulating a patient’s own immune system to better attack and kill cancer cells, is currently a hot topic in cancer drug development, attracting minds and money alike.Recently, DNAtrix, a Houston biotech, announced a partnership with pharma giant Merck to collaborate in phase II clinical trials of an immunotherapy for gliobastoma, an especially deadly brain cancer for which there is no cure.Any therapy that OncoResponse is able to develop would likely be used in combination with other drugs such as checkpoint inhibitors or cancer vaccines that could stimulate the immune system.Stocks says animal studies will be conducted and evaluated with the idea of enrolling patients in clinical trials as soon as 2 ½ years from now.They have Jim Allison,” he says, speaking of the immunotherapy expert who was recruited to Houston from Memorial-Sloan Kettering in New York in 2012.