CAC2 Childhood Cancer Community News Digest (November 8-14)

Assorted news from last week:

Save the Date:  CureFest 2022 will be held Sep. 24 and 25 in Washington, DC.

Second Paediatric Strategy Forum for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibition in paediatric malignancies reported their work in the most recent edition  of European Journal of Cancer.  The Forum was sponsored by ACCELERATE in collaboration with the European Medicines Agency with the participation of the Food and Drug Administration.

CAC2 Member Oncoheroes Biosciences Inc., a biotech focused on advancing new therapies for childhood cancer, has out-licensed worldwide the adult rights to Notable Labs, Inc. (“Notable”), a clinical-stage predictive precision medicine company.  Under the terms of this agreement, Oncoheroes will retain the license for the development and commercialization of volasertib for pediatric cancers and continue its commitment towards childhood cancer.  Notable will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize volasertib in adult cancer indications. Financial details of this deal are not disclosed.

Compassionate use case of DAY101 demonstrates a complete response in a pediatric patient with a recurrent spindle cell sarcoma harboring a BRAF gene fusion.

A clinical trial has found that the combination of all-trans retinoic acid, which is a metabolite of vitamin A, and arsenic trioxide is highly effective in children with standard- and high-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia, or APL.

The new paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, described the results of a pilot study from what’s known as the 100,000 Genomes Project. Whole genome sequencing led to diagnoses for 25% of the thousands of participants in the study thought to have a rare genetic condition — 14% of whom would not have been diagnosed by different methods, the scientists said.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists looking for drugs to improve survival of children with high-risk neuroblastoma found a promising candidate in CX-5461. Then researchers identified safety concerns with the experimental drug that have implications for current clinical trials in adults. The study appears in Nature Communications.

Upcoming Webinars and Online Opportunities:

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) hosted the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) Annual Symposium on November 9, 2021. CCDI is building a community centered around childhood cancer care and research data. Through enhanced data sharing, we can improve our understanding of cancer biology to improve preventive measures, treatment, quality of life, and survivorship, as well as ensure that researchers learn from every child with cancer. This meeting provided an update on activities to-date and offered the opportunity to exchange information to continue the momentum of progress from the first two years of CCDI.  View the CCDI Symposium in its entirety.

The Day One Bio Advocacy team will host a Community Meeting on Friday, December 3, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EST.  During this one-hour Zoom meeting, Day One Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sam Blackman will review the company’s ongoing clinical programs and share insights into our unique approach to pediatric cancer drug development. Please register by following this link.