Related to UPenn Alumni Gift $25M for Facility Focused on BRCA-Mutated Cancers

• Tales from the Biotech Crypt: Sam Waksal Is Back in Business
  Former ImClone CEO has started a new firm, made three acquisitions including Three Rivers, and begun licensing.
  
• Melanoma Cells: All Stem Cells in Disguise?
  Researchers believe that the cancer stem cell theory may not apply to all cancers.
  
• Getting Personal: Multigene Testing for Individual Cancer Evaluation
  Scientists find comfort in numbers, using molecular patterns as prognostic markers.
  
• Tumor Cells Back in Circulation for Monitoring Cancer
  With one test on the market, researchers are developing tools that leverage CTCs as biomarkers.
  
• What’s Wrong with Phase II Trials?
  A better early-phase clinical plan could address high attrition rates in Phase III.
  
• Companies with Cancer Therapeutic Candidates Ramp Up Companion Diagnostic Efforts
  As regulatory framework gets fine-tuned, firms realize the importance of having a biomarker strategy.
  
• Combining Gene and Cell Therapy Is Arming Researchers with More Options for Cancer
  Recent news about success in three leukemia patients shows early-stage translation of basic research.
  
• Does Clinical Success Mean Commercial Success for Cancer Vaccines?
  Getting insurers to pay for immunotherapies and keeping doctors more informed are key to market growth.
  
• Vaccine Isotype Seems to Affect Clinical Outcome in Blood Cancer Trials
  New results presented at ASH will impact production of autologous immunotherapies.
  
• Avastin Label Changes Reignites Debate: Is OS or PFS the Better Regulatory Endpoint?
  A recent panel discussion set the stage for defining standards for drug approval as separate from those for treatment decisions.
  
• How Provenge Laid the Groundwork for Developing and Regulating Cancer Vaccines
  FDA’s recently issued guidelines pull from more than 20 years of research and clinical experience.
  
• Immune Response Markers for Cancer Vaccines Paint a Clearer Picture
  In trying to understand what constitutes an effective immune response, researchers find it’s all about T cells.
  
• Leveraging the Cancer Transcriptome for New Drug Targets
  New analytical tools are advancing research efforts.
  
• Why Biomarker Discovery Is Hard
  Differentiating which markers are in the driver’s seat and which are along for the ride is key.
  
• Harvard Professor Rides Genomics' Third Wave
  New Firm Aims to Advance Personalized Medicine through Precision Diagnostics
  
• Will Less SOX2 Lead to Brain Cancer Getting Cold Feet?
  PLK1 level is elevated in glioblastoma multiforme, and its inhibition restricts the growth of brain cancer cells.
  
• Clinical Application of miRNAs Remains a Ways Off
  When and if its time comes, prognostic tests will likely be first.
  
• A SPA for PMTs
  Researchers propose a SPA strategy that can be successfully implemented to identify novel and specific inhibitors of PMTs.
  
• Leveraging Synthetic Lethality for Cancer Therapeutics
  Researchers investigate a class of therapeutics that could short-circuit cancer cells at the molecular level.
  
• Oncogene Addiction: Real or Not?
  Emerging documentation is starting to address that question and increase understanding of process.