Posts by: Magdalena Kegel

Magdalena Kegel

Magdalena is a writer with a passion for bridging the gap between the people performing research, and those who want or need to understand it. She writes about medical science and drug discovery. She holds an MS in Pharmaceutical Bioscience and a PhD — spanning the fields of psychiatry, immunology, and neuropharmacology — from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

September 22, 2017September 22, 2017

European Commission Approves Bavencio as First Immunotherapy for Adult Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma

News

The European Commission (EC) has granted Bavencio (avelumab) marketing approval as the first immunotherapy to treat the aggressive skin cancer metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma in adults. The decision will allow ... Read more

September 20, 2017

Tafinlar-Mekinist Combo is Highly Effective Adjuvant Therapy for Melanoma, Researchers Say

News

A combination of Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib) nearly halved the risk of relapse or death among patients with advanced melanoma with high-risk mutations, according to trial results presented ... Read more

September 14, 2017

Immuno-oncology Becoming Established as Fifth Pillar of Cancer Therapy, Analysts Say

News

The analytics firm Global Data argues that immuno-oncology appears set to become a fifth pillar among the mainstay of cancer treatments made up of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and other ... Read more

September 13, 2017September 13, 2017

Opdivo and Yervoy Combo Boosts Mesothelioma Survival, Phase 2 Clinical Trial Shows

News

More than half of the mesothelioma patients who received a combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb‘s checkpoint blockers Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab) lived a year or more after treatment, according to ... Read more

September 12, 2017September 12, 2017

Ionis’ Antisense Therapy Shows Promising Results when Combined with Imfinzi in Head and Neck Cancers

News

Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ IONIS-STAT3-2.5 (AZD9150) showed promising results when given in combination with AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi (durvalumab) to patients with refractory and metastatic head and neck cancer in a small clinical trial. ... Read more

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017

Opdivo Improves Long-Term Survival in Advanced Lung Cancer, Data Show

News

Opdivo (nivolumab) outperformed the cancer drug Taxotere (docetaxel) in clinical trials of advanced and earlier treated lung cancer, with survival rates about double those seen with the older treatment ... Read more

August 30, 2017

Automated Medigene System Identifies New Cancer Immunotherapy Targets

News

Medigene has created an automated method for detecting newly created cancer molecules called neoantigens as they arise in a developing tumor. The company believes the high-volume method will prove ... Read more

August 28, 2017

CRISPR Teams Up With Massachusetts General Hospital on Gene-editing Immunotherapies

News

Researchers at CRISPR Therapeutics and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center have joined forces to develop T-cell-based cancer immunotherapies using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system. CRISPR/Cas9 allows researchers to alter or ... Read more

August 17, 2017September 8, 2017

Opdivo and Yervoy Combo Seen to Outperform Sutent in Untreated Advanced Kidney Cancer, But More Data Needed

News

The combination of Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilimumab) was more effective in fighting advanced kidney cancer in previously untreated patients than the approved therapy Sutent (sunitinib), Bristol-Myers Squibb reported after analyzing ... Read more

June 27, 2017June 27, 2017

83% of Young Leukemia Patients Treated with CTL019 Achieve Remission, and It Lasts, Update Shows

News

The leukemia of 83 percent of young patients treated with Novartis’ CTL019 was in remission three months after the therapy administered, and it lasted six months, researchers reported. There were ... Read more