The FDA has uplifted a partial clinical hold from tazemetostat, cancer drug of Epizyme. The company can resume enrolment in trials of the EZH2 inhibitor only after presenting the FDA data on the risk of secondary malignancies. The FDA did not approve Tazemetostat last time, because when a paediatric cancer patient has taken the drug, it had developed a secondary T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. The adverse event was observed across the 750 people, who were treated with tazemetostat. Nonetheless, with preclinical studies that links tazemetostat to secondary lymphomas, as a precaution, the FDA ceased enrolment in trials of the cancer drug.
T-cell therapy eliminates HIV reservoirs
Antiretroviral drugs have become boon in the HIV treatment. HIV, being the virus, can hide in the body in reservoirs that can surge at any time. Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are doing efforts in using immunotherapy, a technology that is for eradicating HIV reservoirs. The technique includes collecting T cells from HIV patients, growing them outside the body to increase their population, then infusing them back into the body. The team ruminates to club the cells with drugs that make latent HIV reservoirs noticeable to the immune system so that T cells can recognize the virus and eradicate it.
The chronic pancreatitis drug of AzurRx Biopharma hits the mark in phase 2
AzurRx Biopharma declared that its main asset met its primary and secondary endpoints in a phase 2a trial. The drug, a recombinant lipase, is designed to treat an enzyme condition linked to chronic pancreatitis. The medication, called MS1819-SD, is designed to treat exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), which is caused by chronic pancreatitis. The pancreas is halted because of scarring and inflammation to make enough exocrine enzymes, that results in the inability to digest food properly, especially fats.
