Healthcare analytics, AI solutions for biological big data, providing an AI platform for the biotech, life sciences, medical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as for related technological approaches, i.e., curation and text analysis with machine learning and other activities related to AI applications to these industries.
The Parker Institute in SF – A Collaboration of 6 centers, over 40 labs, and over 300 of the nation’s top researchers, all working together to cure Cancer
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
The Parker Institute an unprecedented collaboration between the country’s leading immunologists and cancer centers: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Our network brings together the world’s best. We are 6 centers, over 40 labs, and over 300 of the nation’s top researchers, all working together to cure cancer.
More information about the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy can be found at: http://www.parkerici.org
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: A world-renowned center for cancer treatment and research, pioneering immunotherapy research since the 19th century.
Stanford Medicine: A world class leader in research and information technologies empowering the development of the next generation of immunotherapies.
University of California, Los Angeles: Renowned for cancer research treatment & prevention.
University of California, San Francisco: A basic-research powerhouse – the genetic drivers of cancer were discovered here – and home to one of the world’s top medical centers.
University of Pennsylvania: One of America’s foremost academic medical centers, and the world leader in T cell-based cancer immunotherapy.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center:One of the world’s most respected cancer centers, instrumental in the development of cancer immunotherapy based on checkpoints, blockades.
Researchers at 30 organizations to test algorithms that predict tumor markers from DNA in hunt for new personalized cancer treatments
SANFRANCISCOANDNEWYORK – Dec. 1, 2016 – The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) today announced a major collaboration focused on neoantigens. The search for these unique cancer markers has become a robust area of research as scientists believe they may hold the key to developing a new generation of personalized, targeted cancer immunotherapies.
This new collaboration, the Tumor neoantigEn SeLection Alliance (TESLA), includes 30 of the world’s leading cancer neoantigen research groups from both academia and industry. Because these tumor markers are both specific to each individual and unlikely to be present on normal healthy cells, neoantigens represent an optimal target for the immune system and make possible a new class of highly personalized vaccines with the potential for significant efficacy with reduced side effects.
“Bringing together the world’s best neoantigen research organizations to accelerate the discovery of personalized cancer immunotherapies is exactly the type of bold research collaboration that I envisioned when launching the Parker Institute,” said Sean Parker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and founder of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. “This alliance will not only leverage the immense talents of each of the researchers but will also harness the power of bioinformatics, which I believe will be critical to driving breakthroughs.”
The goal of the initiative is to help participating groups test and continually improve the mathematical algorithms they use to analyze tumor DNA and RNA sequences in order to predict the neoantigens that are likely to be present on each patient’s cancer and most visible to the immune system. In support of this, Parker Institute and CRI have partnered with renowned open science nonprofit, Sage Bionetworks, to manage the bioinformatics and data analysis.
Initially, the project is expected to focus on cancers such as advanced melanoma, colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer that tend to have larger numbers of mutations and thus more neoantigens. Over time, the initiative will seek to broaden the relevance of neoantigen vaccines to a wide range of cancers.
Participants come from universities, biotech, the pharmaceutical industry and scientific nonprofits. The researchers represent a wide swath of scientific fields, including immunology, data science, genomics, molecular biology, and physics and engineering.
“This project embodies the spirit of collaboration and partnership between academia, industry and nonprofits that the Parker Institute strives to foster,” said Jeffrey Bluestone, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. “It is a great example of how we are breaking down traditional barriers to conduct groundbreaking, multidisciplinary science to get cancer treatments to patients faster.”
“The Cancer Research Institute and the Parker Institute share a belief that the immune system is a platform technology that can be harnessed to turn all cancers into a curable disease,” said Adam Kolom, Parker Institute vice president of business development and strategic partnerships and CRI’s Clinical Accelerator program director. “We believe that by bringing together the top laboratories in the world that are developing neoantigen prediction software, we will be able to unlock the promise of this next generation of personalized cancer immunotherapies sooner.”
This marks the first major collaboration between the San Francisco-based Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, launched in April 2016, and the Cancer Research Institute, founded in 1953 in New York City.
“We’re proud to join the Parker Institute in this collaboration, which demonstrates the vital role that nonprofits can play in bringing together stakeholders from across sectors to work alongside one another to advance the field of cancer immunotherapy,” said Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., Cancer Research Institute CEO and director of scientific affairs.
Participating researchers said they looked forward to working collaboratively through the alliance to solve one of immunotherapy’s most complex problems.
“This experiment is truly remarkable because of its potential to help us more precisely identify abnormal proteins in an individual’s tumor that can be used as targets for personalized cancer immunotherapy,” said professor Robert D. Schreiber, Ph.D., director of the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology & Immunotherapy Programs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “We believe that this type of precision medicine, used alone or with other forms of immunotherapy, will significantly improve our capacity to treat cancer patients more effectively and with fewer side effects than current treatments.”
About Neoantigens
Neoantigens are markers present on the surface of cancer cells but absent on normal tissue, making them attractive drug target candidates. They commonly arise from mutations that occur as tumor cells rapidly divide and multiply. The immune system can recognize these markers as “foreign,” and as a result, target the cancer cell for destruction. In order to predict which neoantigens will be present on a patient’s tumor, researchers have developed software programs to analyze tumor DNA and output the unique set of markers that the immune system is most likely to recognize.
What the Alliance Will Do
Participating research groups will receive genetic sequences from both normal and cancerous tissues. Using each laboratory’s own algorithms, each group will output a set of predicted neoantigens that are anticipated to be present on the tumor cells and recognizable by the immune system. The predictions will then be validated through a series of tests to assess which predictions are most likely to be correct and recognizable by T-cells. Through this effort, each participant will be provided with data to inform and to further improve their algorithms and therefore the potential effectiveness of personalized neoantigen vaccines for cancer.
Participating Organizations
Currently, the research institutions taking part include the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Caltech, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the University of California, Santa Cruz, The Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health and Washington University School of Medicine. Internationally, scientists from the Fondazione Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori, National Cancer Centre Singapore, the National Center for Tumor Diseases at Heidelberg University Hospital and the Netherlands Cancer Institute have also stepped forward to join the project.
Participants from industry include Advaxis; Agenus; Amgen; BioNTech; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; ISA Pharmaceuticals; MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca; Neon Therapeutics and Personalis, Inc.
The six academic research centers that make up the core of the Parker Institute are also expected to participate, including: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania and The University of Texas MDAnderson Cancer Center. Initial tissue samples are expected to be provided by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, UCLA, the University Hospital of Siena in Italy and the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, a member of Hackensack Meridian Health. As the project progresses, the alliance will add to its growing roster of participants.
About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy brings together the best scientists, clinicians, and industry partners to build a smarter and more coordinated cancer immunotherapy research effort.
The Parker Institute is an unprecedented collaboration between the country’s leading immunologists and cancer centers: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The Parker Institute was created through a $250 million grant from The Parker Foundation.
The Parker Institute’s goal is to accelerate the development of breakthrough immune therapies capable of turning cancer into a curable disease by ensuring the coordination and collaboration of the field’s top researchers, and quickly turning their findings into patient treatments. The Parker Institute network brings together six centers, more than 40 industry and nonprofit partners, more than 63 labs and more than 300 of the nation’s top researchers focused on treating the deadliest cancers.
About the Cancer Research Institute
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to transforming cancer patient care by advancing scientific efforts to develop new and effective immune system-based strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and eventually cure all cancers. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes three Nobel laureates and 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested $336 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities, and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. To learn more, go to cancerresearch.org.
Contact Information:
Shirley Dang
Science Communications Manager
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy sdang@parkerici.org
415-930-4385
Brian Brewer
Director of Marketing and Communications
Cancer Research Institute bbrewer@cancerresearch.org
212-688-7515 x242
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) @ Stanford Medicine Bedside to Bench Grant Program Call for Proposals
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) @ Stanford Medicine Bedside to Bench Grant Program supports early stage projects that will enhance interdisciplinary basic and translational research among the Stanford scientific community in Cancer Immunotherapy.
The PICI Bedside to Bench Grant will support collaborations between basic scientists and clinical researchers that lead to fundamental discoveries and advance the field of cancer immunotherapy. These awards are targeted to faculty with early-stage, high-risk ideas that would not be funded by traditional sources. We are particularly interested in the following areas of study:
T-Cell Therapies,
Checkpoint Non-Responders,
Antigen Discovery and
the Tumor Microenvironment.
All proposals must involve at least one basic science and one clinical investigator. We encourage applications from scientists across a broad array of disciplines whose combined perspectives will help to accelerate the pace of discovery.
We are particularly interested in proposals that seek to identify correlative biomarkers of response to immunotherapy or that will enable discovery of new targets or pathways that could be leveraged for therapeutic gain using immune based therapies.
CorPath robotic system for bifurcation lesions with placement of the Absorb GT1 Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) (Abbott Vascular)
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
UPDATED on 4/8/2017
BVS Stent Pulled From European Market – Bioresorbable stent will still be available in a clinical registry setting
by Larry Husten, CardioBrief, April 06, 2017
Abbott Laboratories sent a letter to European physicians informing them that the Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) and Absorb GT1 BVS “will only be available for use in clinical registry setting at select sites/institutions.”
The company’s action comes in response to an avalanche of bad news for the controversial device. Last fall 3-year results from the ABSORB II trial uncovered a significantly higher rate of target vessel MI. More recently, 2-year results from the pivotal ABSORB III trial confirmed those findings, showing a significant increase in target lesion failure. At the same time the FDA said that it was investigating the stent.
A remote-controlled robotic system was designed to address some of the procedural challenges and occupational hazards associated with traditional percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in addition to enhancing the degree of precision and control for the interventional procedure. We report the first large-scale, multicenter study evaluating the safety and efficacy of a novel robotic system for PCI.
It demonstrates the capabilities of the technology including double-wire intervention, successful BVS delivery, and the ability to re-cross through a scaffold-strut for branch vessel ostium dilatation. More experience with this technology will potentially add to its utilization in more complex lesions.
Safety and Feasibility of Robotic Percutaneous Coronary Intervention PRECISE (Percutaneous Robotically-Enhanced Coronary Intervention) Study
GioraWeisz, D. ChristopherMetzger, Ronald P.Caputo, Juan A.Delgado, J. JeffreyMarshall, George W.Vetrovec, MarkReisman, RonWaksman, Juan F.Granada, VictorNovack, Jeffrey W.Moses, Joseph P.Carrozza
Author + information
Abstract
Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety as well as the clinical and technical effectiveness of robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention.
Background Robotic systems have been suggested to enhance the performance of cardiovascular procedures, as well as to provide protection from the occupational hazards that are associated with interventional practice.
Methods Patients with coronary artery disease and clinical indications for percutaneous intervention were enrolled. The coronary intervention was performed with the CorPath 200 robotic system, which consists of a remote interventional cockpit and a bedside disposable cassette that enables the operator to advance, retract, and rotate guidewires and catheters. The primary endpoints were clinical procedural success, defined as <30% residual stenosis at the completion of the robotic-assisted procedure without major adverse cardiovascular events within 30 days, and device technical success, defined as the successful manipulation of the intracoronary devices using the robotic system only.
Results A total of 164 patients were enrolled at 9 sites. Percutaneous coronary intervention was completed successfully without conversion to manual operation, and device technical success was achieved in 162 of 164 patients (98.8%). There were no device-related complications. Clinical procedural success was achieved in 160 of 164 patients (97.6%), whereas 4 (2.4%) had periprocedural non–Q-wave myocardial infarctions. No deaths, strokes, Q-wave myocardial infarctions, or revascularization occurred in the 30 days after the procedures. Radiation exposure for the primary operator was 95.2% lower than the levels found at the traditional table position.
Conclusions This pivotal multicenter study with a robotic-enhanced coronary intervention system demonstrated the safety and feasibility of the system. The robotic remote-control procedure met the expected technical and clinical performance, with significantly lower radiation exposure to the operator. (Evaluation of the Safety and Effectiveness of the CorPath 200 System in Percutaneous Coronary Interventions [PCI] [PRECISE]; NCT01275092)
Reference
1. Weisz G, Metzger DC, Caputo RP, et al. Safety and feasibility of robotic percutaneous coronary intervention. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;61:1596–1600.
Stents, Bypass Surgery Equally Safe and Effective for Many with Left Main Heart Disease – Stents offer less-invasive option for many patients with left main coronary artery disease
Findings from the EXCEL (Evaluation of Xience versus Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularization) trial were published this morning online in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Washington, D.C. The trial research team included interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from 126 centers in 17 countries.
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has long been considered the definitive treatment for patients with left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD), in which the artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to most of the heart muscle is clogged with atherosclerotic plaque. About two-thirds of all LMCAD patients have mild to moderate disease in the remainder of the coronary arteries.
“Our study has shown that many patients with left main coronary artery disease who prefer a minimally invasive approach can now rest assured that a stent is as effective as bypass surgery for at least three years, and is initially safer, with fewer complications from the procedure,” said first author Gregg W. Stone, M.D., professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and director of cardiovascular research and education at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia.
Stents, which are placed into the diseased artery via a catheter that is inserted through a small opening in a blood vessel in the groin, arm or neck, are a less-invasive treatment option for many people with coronary artery disease. However, CABG has long been considered the definitive treatment for patients with LMCAD, which affects a large portion of the heart muscle.
Patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) rather than CABG had fewer MIs, and less bleeding, infections, arrhythmias and renal failure within 30 days, although more repeat revascularization procedures at three years. Fewer patients developed definite stent thrombosis after PCI than symptomatic graft occlusion after PCI at 30 days and three years.
“Our study establishes stents as an acceptable or preferred alternative for patients with LMCAD and low or moderate disease complexity in the other three coronary arteries — about two-thirds of all LMCAD patients,” said Stone. “While bypass is still considered a more durable repair, patients and doctors may prefer a percutaneous treatment approach, which is associated with better upfront results, fewer complications, and quicker recovery.”
The researchers reported that bypass surgery should still be considered standard therapy for those with LMCAD and extensive blockages in the remainder of the heart arteries, although the study did not include patients with severe disease.
Watch the video “The Evolution of TAVR Technology.” Interview with Juan Granada, M.D., executive director and chief scientific officer of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s Skirball Center for Innovation, at the Transcatheter Valve Therapies 2015 meeting.
Watch the video “TAVR Beats Surgery — Top News From ACC.16.” Dr. Vinod Thourani, professor of surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine and a co-investigator for the PARTNER II Trial, discusses the biggest news item from ACC.16 — the Sapien 3 TAVR device performed better that surgical aortic valve replacement.
Watch the video “CoreValve Trumps Surgical Valve Replacement — TVT 2015.” Interview with Michael Reardon, M.D., professor of cardiothoracic surgery at DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, and chairman of the patient screening committee, CoreValve U.S. pivotal trial, at the Transcatheter Valve Therapies 2015 meeting.
Most interventional and cardiac surgical experts say TMVR will be the next frontier in minimally invasive structural heart interventions. With the success and rapid growth of TAVR, there is an immense anticipation that TMVR will have an even greater impact in cardiology. This has translated into more than $2.5 billion being spent in the past year by vendors purchasing start-up TMVR companies, while less than 50 patients have actually been treated using these technologies, said Michael Mack, M.D., medical director, cardiovascular surgery, Baylor Health Care System and chairman of The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano Research Center.
However, the mitral valve involves much more complex anatomy than the aortic valve, so the devices, imaging for procedural planning and guidance will be much more sophisticated than what is used for TAVR. Among the challenges are: fixation of a device to the very small landing zone of the mitral annulus; avoiding the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT); avoiding compression of the atrioventricular (AV) node; avoiding the papillary muscle and chordae tendineae; ensuring the device seals properly to avoid paravalvular regurgitation; and the device needs to be able to adapt to remodeling of the anatomy. There are more than 20 TMVR devices in development. The majority of these valves utilize a self-expanding nitinol frame that engages both sides of the native mitral valve annulus for fixation, similar to Amplatzer septal closure devices.
The companies with first-in-human TMVR implants include Tendyne, Neovasc and Edwards Lifesciences’ Fortis and Sapien XT devices. The Neovasc Tiara, Tendyne Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve and CardiAQ Valve Technologies TMVR system all have been granted FDA conditional investigational device exemption (IDE) studies.
Watch the video “Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair Technologies.” An interview with Ted Feldman, M.D., FACC, MSCAI, FESC, cardiac cath lab director, Evanston Hospital, North Shore Health System, and principle investigator, Everest II MitraClip U.S. pivotal trial, at the Transcatheter Valve Therapies 2015 meeting.
Advancements in TAVR and TMVR Technologies at TCT 2016
Watch the video VIDEO “Transcatheter Valve Technology Advancements at TCT 2016.” This is an interview Torsten Vahl, M.D., about advancements in transcatheter valve repair technology, including new devices for the aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves. Vahl is director of experimental and translational research and assistant professor of medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy.
Watch the video “VIDEO: Transcatheter Mitral Valve Technology, Anatomical Challenges.” A discussion with Juan Granada, M.D., about transcatheter mitral valve advancements and device challenges at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2016 annual meeting. Granada is executive director and chief scientific officer of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s Skirball Center for Innovation.
UPMC Enterprises, the commercialization arm of UPMC, is shaping the future of health care through innovation. Focused on generating impactful technology solutions, they invest in key focus areas: clinical tools, population health, consumer-centric health care, and business services and infrastructure. As the most active corporate venture investor of the year in digital health, UPMC contributed to several funding rounds including investments in Health Catalyst and Lantern.
Most Prolific VC
Khosla Ventures
Khosla Ventures helps entrepreneurs with large problems that are amenable to technology solutions. A longtime tech and healthcare investor, Khosla Ventures participated in five digital health deals this year, including Neurotrack and Color Genomics.
Best Performing IPO
Evolent Health
Evolent Health partners with health systems to accelerate their transformation to value-based care. By integrating the people, processes, and technology needed to drive clinical and financial growth, Evolent has found the secret to success—it is one of the digital health stocks with the biggest returns YTD, up 114% since the start of the year.
Crowdfunding Hero
BSX Technologies: LVL
LVL is the first wearable hydration monitor that gives users the complete picture of their health by also tracking activity, sleep, mood, and heart rate. Their wildly successful Kickstarter campaignresulted in over $1.1 million pledged of their $50,000 goal, and backers will soon be able to measure their hydration in real time. Fewer than 200 crowd funding campaigns have ever raised over $1 million.
“Until recently, the default treatment for valve disease has been open heart surgery to replace the damaged valve or valves.”
The Hadassah Medical Organization has opened Israel’s first Heart Valve Disease Clinic, which is geared toward detecting and treating the most complicated cases of heart valve disease–a growing problem in an aging population.
Until recently, the default treatment for valve disease has been open heart surgery to replace the damaged valve or valves. Currently, these invasive procedures are often superseded by less invasive cardiac catheterizations. In any case, however, efficiently treating valve disease and minimizing life-threatening risk factors such as heart attack remains an ongoing struggle for cardiovascular specialists.
As Prof. Ronen Beeri, head of Hadassah’s Cardiovascular Research Center, explains: “A ‘cardio team’ is needed to treat a patient suffering from heart valve disease. The time from referral to our Heart Institute to receive treatment from the relevant specialist can sometimes take months. Generally, patients with complex issues cannot afford to wait that long. The multidisciplinary cardio team solution at our new Clinic will help streamline the process so that a patient will receive all the necessary echocardiograms and other exams needed to diagnose and begin treatment within a week’s time.”
Preliminary Agenda Available: World Preclinical Congress 2017 (June 12-16 in Boston, MA)
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
The preliminary agenda is now available for CHI’s 16th AnnualWorld Preclinical Congress taking place June 12 – 16, 2017 at The Westin Copley Place in Boston, MA.
In recent years, the World Preclinical Congress (WPC) has turned into a key networking event for those involved in preclinical research. It features conferences, training seminars and short courses that cover the very latest in preclinical strategies and technologies, to enable better and faster decisions in drug discovery. WPC attracts a diverse, global audience, which include experts, as well as people who are new and eager to contribute to the field.
Now in its 16th year the event will continue to highlight ways to improve accuracy and efficiency in preclinical research, while bringing together the people and technologies to make it happen. Spanning five days, the event attracts 1,000+ attendees including chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, screening and formulation experts.
This year’s event is comprised of 14 conference tracks, 5 Symposia, 10 short courses*, interactive breakout discussion groups, an exhibit hall featuring more than 80 technology and service companies, Student Fellowship Program and dedicated poster viewing and networking sessions. The 16th AnnualWorld Preclinical Congress event assembles an impressive group of distinguished speakers who look forward to sharing their knowledge, best practices, and expertise with all attendees.
Don’t miss your opportunity to network with 1,000+ of your peers at this year’s event. Special early registration savings are currently available.
We look forward to seeing you this June in Boston, Massachusetts.
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