December 2023 • PharmaTimes Magazine • 9
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New womb cancer test could prevent invasive procedures
Researchers from University College London (UCL) and the University of Innsbruck have revealed that a new test to detect womb cancer could prevent 87% of women from needing an invasive diagnostic procedure.
The new test could accelerate and simplify the diagnosis of womb cancer or rule the condition out as a cause of symptoms.
Published in The Lancet Oncology and funded by the Eve Appeal, the European Research Council and Land Tirol, the WID-qEC test took samples from 400 peri- and post-menopausal women being investigated at the UCL hospital gynaecological rapid access clinic with abnormal vaginal bleeding, which identified 12 women with womb cancer.
WID-qEC searches for DNA methylation ‘tags’ to identify DNA from cancer cells to determine whether cancer is present or not in the womb.
Patients in the UK with abnormal vaginal bleeding are currently offered a transvaginal ultrasound, a scanner probe inserted into the vagina to visualise the inside of the womb, or other techniques to identify thickened womb lining (endometrium) prior to a biopsy.
To collect the biopsy, a hysteroscopy, an invasive and sometimes painful process using a narrow telescope with a camera that enters the womb, is performed, followed by a biopsy.
LifeArc and UKDRI invest £14.5m into neurodegeneration research
LifeArc and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI) has invested £14.5m into seven neurodegeneration research projects as part of their £30m strategic partnership.
Established in 2022, the partnership funding is aimed at accelerating the development of new diagnostic tests, treatments and devices to treat neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia.
In the UK, around 900,000 people are living with the terminal condition of dementia, which currently has no cure.
The two organisations aim to bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and clinical applications to develop new treatments and therapies.
The seven projects to receive funding include those led by the UKDRI at University College London, Cambridge, King’s College London, Imperial College London, Cardiff University, the UKDRI director and the UKDRI Care Research and Technology.
“These pioneering projects will bring us ever closer to our mission of new treatments for people affected by dementia,” said Dr Kay Penicud, UKDRI director of innovation and business.
The projects range from developing treatments and therapies for neurodegenerative conditions including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, motor neurone disease (MND) and cerebral small vessel disease.
Currently, LifeArc has invested up to £100m to tackle neurodegenerative conditions, one of its five healthcare themes with significant unmet patient needs.
HOT & NOT
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is aiming to invest a share of £12m to fund 62 bioscience research projects in the UK. The new projects will explore early-stage ideas at the frontiers of bioscience.
As part of the BBSRC Pioneer Awards, the investment will open up novel areas of exploration to allow investigators to make new discoveries and has the potential to transform our understanding of the fundamental rules of life.
IO Biotech has announced that it has completed the enrolment of 380 patients in a phase 3 clinical trial of its investigational immune-modulating therapeutic cancer vaccine in advanced melanoma.
The open-label, randomised clinical study being conducted in collaboration with Merck & Co is comparing the candidate IO102-IO103 in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) versus Keytruda alone in patients with previously untreated, unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
Glox Therapeutics has announced it has secured £4.3m in seed funding to develop targeted therapeutics against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria to fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The company aims to advance antimicrobial therapies to overcome resistance to traditional antibiotics.
Led by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Scottish Enterprise, the seed funding will be used by Glox to establish laboratories in Oxford and Glasgow, expand its team and advance its bacteriocin development programme.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that a new National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network (RDN) will commence in 2024 to support health and social care research in England.
The network will aim to bring innovative new treatments and care to patients, carers and the public.
Set to build on and replace the NIHR Clinical Research Network, the University of Leeds will become the single host of the new NIHR RDN Co-ordinating Centre.
NHS leaders in England are facing tough choices on which services to cut unless extra funding is provided by the Government to cover the rising costs of industrial action and other cost pressures.
Senior figures across hospital and other services in England have told the NHS Confederation that the health service is facing a profound financial crisis. Strike action alone is estimated to have already cost the English NHS £1.4 billion.
Sir Patrick Vallance has revealed that the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme was "highly likely" to have increased Covid deaths in the UK.
The Government’s former Chief Scientific Advisor told the COVID inquiry he was not consulted on Rishi Sunak's policy, which was aimed at supporting businesses.
During the inquiry he also insisted that Boris Johnson was “weak”, “indecisive” and “bamboozled by the science”.
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