ctDNA can in theory be used to sequence the cancer.
I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s not the same and would be hard to separate from other cfDNA.
Moderna has just put an individualized cancer vaccine into a phase III
Do you think that trial is a bad idea?
What Moderna is doing is sequencing cancer cells and healthy cells, and using some algorithm to guess what mRNA vaccine would work. I think they’re not quite there yet: the hazard ratio with a checkpoint inhibitor isn’t much better than the checkpoint inhibitor alone, and I always discount the reported performance in small trials a bit. (And looking at the stock price, Wall Street seems to agree.) Note also that it’s specifically for certain types of melanoma, and comes after several failed cancer mRNA vaccine trials. That limitation to melanoma types indicates to me that their algorithm and its personalization are probably rather limited.
It’s not that I’m opposed to Moderna doing their trial per se, but I am a bit concerned that their patents could ultimately result in a net reduction in progress.
Following up on the current market state discussion related to Moderna, any thoughts on the Amgen treatment that FDA just approved today? Seems to be a much more targeted treatment but the general approach of targeting specific mutations seems to suggest a “family of drugs” that targets a number of different mutations. If that can cover mutations the cause 90% of cancers seems like it would be a huge win. (But I’m not sure if things work that way!)
That new Amgen drug targets a human protein that’s mostly only used during embryonic development. I think it’s expressed by most cancer cells in maybe around 0.2% of cancer cases. In many of those cases, some of the cancer cells will stop producing it.
Most potential targets have worse side effects and/or are less common.
I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s not the same and would be hard to separate from other cfDNA.
What Moderna is doing is sequencing cancer cells and healthy cells, and using some algorithm to guess what mRNA vaccine would work. I think they’re not quite there yet: the hazard ratio with a checkpoint inhibitor isn’t much better than the checkpoint inhibitor alone, and I always discount the reported performance in small trials a bit. (And looking at the stock price, Wall Street seems to agree.) Note also that it’s specifically for certain types of melanoma, and comes after several failed cancer mRNA vaccine trials. That limitation to melanoma types indicates to me that their algorithm and its personalization are probably rather limited.
It’s not that I’m opposed to Moderna doing their trial per se, but I am a bit concerned that their patents could ultimately result in a net reduction in progress.
Following up on the current market state discussion related to Moderna, any thoughts on the Amgen treatment that FDA just approved today? Seems to be a much more targeted treatment but the general approach of targeting specific mutations seems to suggest a “family of drugs” that targets a number of different mutations. If that can cover mutations the cause 90% of cancers seems like it would be a huge win. (But I’m not sure if things work that way!)
That new Amgen drug targets a human protein that’s mostly only used during embryonic development. I think it’s expressed by most cancer cells in maybe around 0.2% of cancer cases. In many of those cases, some of the cancer cells will stop producing it.
Most potential targets have worse side effects and/or are less common.