USING MEDICAL IMAGING TO INVESTIGATE DISEASE Medical imaging — using various modalities to take a snapshot of the body’s interior structure — has been around since 1895, with the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen. X-rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation (more on that later!) that are able to pass through soft tissues such as skin, fat, and muscle … Read More
Pills, Proteins & Peptides
Promising Peptide Therapies The front runners in the game of drug delivery include small molecule and large molecule drugs, but there is another class that lands right in between: peptides. Several companies, including Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (Boston, MA), Kalos Therapeutics (San Diego, CA), Aileron Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA), and Bicycle Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA) have emerged as prominent players in the peptide arena. Let’s … Read More
A Bone To Pick With Osteoporosis
The Race To Be The Next Big Bone Drug Amgen’s recent positive Phase III results for an antibody drug is putting it neck and neck with Radius Health’s peptide — the latest in a batch of osteoporosis therapies edging their way to the market. The current widely prescribed generic — bisphosphonate — only works to slow the loss of bone, while these newer drugs add to the therapies that aim to rebuild. … Read More
Breaking Bad With NSCLC & SCLC
BREAKING BAD The hit TV series Breaking Bad features anti-hero Walter White, who starts out as a sympathetic character: a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher with a nagging cough that turns out to be lung cancer. Money problems precipitated by costly treatments, poor insurance, and a modest salary push him to start cooking up meth to ensure the financial security … Read More
Stomach Stapling Paves A Pathway
Identifying Gut Proteins To Tackle Metabolic Disorders Historians of science love to tell about “eureka moments”—simple observations leading to major insight. Greek mathematician Archimedes allegedly exclaimed the original “Eureka!”—meaning “I have found it!”—upon witnessing the volume of water displaced by his body in the bathtub equaled the volume of the body part he had submerged. Medicine’s most famous eureka moment is probably the … Read More
Catching The First Drop Of Cancer
The Latest In Cancer Diagnostics Hearing the words “it might be cancer” paired with your doctor’s perplexed look is enough to send shockwaves through your body. Getting to the heart of a diagnosis usually requires a surgical biopsy—removal and examination of the suspected tissue for visible signs of cancer. Less invasive diagnostic tests—called liquid biopsies—might just bring more choices to … Read More
Breaking Down Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer Primer The hit TV series Breaking Bad features anti-hero Walter White, who starts out as a sympathetic character: a mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher with a nagging cough that turns out to be lung cancer. Money problems precipitated by costly treatments, poor insurance, and a modest salary push him to start cooking up meth to ensure the financial security of … Read More
Biotech’s Battlefront: Monoclonal Antibodies
Since their premier on the scene, monoclonal antibodies (mAb) have demanded top billing on the biotech marquee, creating a cast of therapeutics used to treat diseases like autoimmune disorders and cancer. The first player debuted in 1986 when Janssen-Cilag’s OKT3 gained FDA approval to treat transplant rejection patients. Fast forward to 2013, where half of the top ten best selling … Read More
Saved By Screening
NEW COMPANION DIAGNOSTIC APPROVAL Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer found in both men and women in the U.S., and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Approximately 1.2 million cases of colorectal cancer are expected to occur globally. Just last week, the FDA approved Qiagen’s Therascreen KRAS companion diagnostic to identify colorectal cancer patients most likely … Read More