Bellicum’s prostate-cancer vaccine: Dendritic cells served with a genetic twist
For a few brief months earlier this year, Dendreon’s Provenge looked like it might become the first cancer vaccine approved by the FDA, despite some iffy data supporting its effectiveness. The fate of Provenge now hangs in the balance following the FDA’s controversial decision to ask for additional data. But that hasn’t stopped Bellicum Pharmaceuticals from trying to improve on the work of its forbear.
(One quick note: Merck’s Gardasil and similar vaccines, which are frequently… Continue Reading
Weekend update: That cold, cold artificial heart, Dendreon-related skulduggery, congressional earmarks, and more
(UPDATED: See below.)
Catching up on a few life-science related items you may have missed over the weekend:
If you prick a cyborg, does he not bleed? — The WaPo’s Joel Garreau brings us this fascinating story about Peter Houghton, the first permananent recipient of a “left ventricular assist device” — a mechanical replacement for a failing chamber of his heart. Houghton’s heartbeat no longer goes lub-dub — instead, it whirrs as an impeller pushes blood through it. He… Continue Reading
Patients, CEOs and ideologues vs. evidence-based medicine
The first time you hear it, “evidence-based medicine” sounds like one of those goofily redundant phrases like “animated cartoon” or “past experience.” Aren’t doctors always carrying out studies of one sort or another? Isn’t medicine evidence-based already?
Well, no, not really. One of the biggest and least-understood problems in the U.S. healthcare system is that where many new drugs, medical devices and surgical techniques are concerned, there’s relatively little data as to which benefit patients… Continue Reading
No immunity for Dendreon’s cancer vaccine
(UPDATED: See below.) For almost two months, it has seemed that the FDA might be ready to approve an entirely new attack on cancer — a “cancer vaccine” that immunizes patients with tumor fragments in order to activate the body’s immune defenses against cancerous cells.
That dream suffered a major setback earlier today, when the FDA threw up a fresh roadblock to the approval of Dendreon’s Provenge, the first such cancer vaccine to go before the agency… Continue Reading