#89 – Data leaks, protein plaques, & tailored testing
The coffee break biotech roundup, by SomX.
Hi there, my fellow latecomers,
This week, several things that probably should have happened sooner. Data tracking on drug websites lands in court, tumours turn out to have been signalling their location all along, a new antibody goes after amyloid deposits already sitting in the heart, Oryon bets on fully differentiated neurons over the progenitor cells most rivals favour, and a prostate cancer test finally folds ethnicity into the diagnostic equation.
Better late than never,
Dodo
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Discover 🔍
⚖️ Patient sues Novartis, claiming data-tracking privacy breach (pharmaphorum): A Vermont cancer patient alleges Novartis’s Kisqali product website used tracking pixels to share her private health information with Google and ContentSquare without her consent. The data – inferred from her site visit and savings card application – promptly landed her targeted adverts related to her condition. The complaint, which names trackers on five Novartis product websites, targets violations of HIPAA and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
Our take: Most pixel-tracking litigation has focused on health systems, pharmacies, and prescription platforms – all HIPAA-covered entities. Novartis sits outside that framework, which is jolly convenient (until it isn’t). Its product websites aren’t bound by the same rules, yet a visit to a breast cancer drug page is arguably a key diagnostic tell. Now that a suitably prominent defendant has arrived, it might be time to test state privacy laws and close the federal loophole.
🦠 Immunotherapy for solid tumours enhanced by metabolite-sensing receptors (GEN): Stanford researchers have equipped NK and T cells with tumour-homing G-protein coupled receptors (thGPRs) that recognise metabolites released by proliferating cancer cells – including phospholipids, fatty acids, and cholesterol derivatives – and use them as a homing signal. In mouse models of breast and ovarian cancer, the engineered cells navigated directly to tumours, markedly improving control and survival.
Our take: CAR-T’s exhaustion problem has long dominated the field, but this research reframes solid tumour failure as partly a navigation problem. Cancer cells release metabolites as a byproduct of rapid proliferation, and those same metabolites recruit immunosuppressive cells that shield the tumour from attack. Stanford’s lot have engineered killer cells to follow those metabolites directly into the tumour instead. Maybe the answer to CAR-T exhaustion in solid tumours was never about endurance – just better directions.
🫀 UK biotech co-founded by Nobel laureate secures $86M for antibody program (Endpoints): Cambridge-based Immutrin is having a crack at a gap that no approved therapy has yet managed to fill – clearing amyloid deposits already lodged in the hearts of cardiomyopathy patients. The company was co-founded by Professor Daniel Christ, Sir Mark Pepys, whose research underpins the approach, and Sir Gregory Winter, whose Nobel-winning phage display technique was used to precisely engineer the lead antibody. The Series A will fund proof-of-concept trials.
Our take: Currently, approved treatments for this type of amyloidosis cardiomyopathy – stabilisers like Vyndaqel and Attruby, silencers like vutrisiran – work upstream, preventing new fibrils from forming. None of them touch what's already lodged in the heart. Immutrin's antibody recruits the immune system to clear existing deposits, opening the tantalising possibility of reversing damage rather than merely arresting it. If combined, treatment could become a two-pronged attack.
🧠 Oryon shines out of stealth with $21M to fight Parkinson’s disease (Fierce Biotech): Massachusetts-based biotech has closed its Series A, bringing total funding to $42M, for its stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s. Rather than the progenitor cells favoured by most rivals, Oryon uses the patient’s own stem cells to grow fully differentiated A9 neurons – the dopamine-producing cells whose degeneration drives Parkinson’s motor symptoms. Five patients in an ongoing Phase 1b/2a trial have shown motor score improvements ranging from 29% to 62% above baseline, six to 18 months after treatment.
Our take: Deriving neurons from a patient’s own cells sidesteps immunosuppression entirely – an advantage the allogeneic lot can’t claim. Five patients is a slim cohort, but the unilateral approach quietly does something useful: treating only one side of the brain creates a within-patient control, allowing dopamine restoration and motor recovery to be tracked against the untreated hemisphere. That unilateral treatment is already comparing favourably with bilateral approaches makes the next cohort worth watching.
And finally…
🍑 Trinity Biotech announces successful clinical results for its enhanced EpiCapture™ prostate cancer test (Yahoo): The Dublin-based company has reported an AUC of 85% for an enhanced version of its EpiCapture urine liquid biopsy test for aggressive prostate cancer, validated across 750 patient samples. The upgraded test incorporates a machine learning algorithm that factors in patient ethnicity alongside DNA biomarkers – the first prostate cancer diagnostic to do so. Commercialisation is planned through Trinity's New York reference laboratory.
Our take: Black men die from prostate cancer at twice the rate of white men, in part because prostate-specific antigen (PSA) thresholds in clinical guidelines were calibrated against white populations with naturally lower baseline levels – meaning the same score can mask meaningfully different levels of risk, depending on the patient. Most diagnostics treat ethnicity as a confounding variable to smooth away. Accounting for it meaningfully in clinical decision-making is long overdue.
Tune in 🎧
🎗️ How Evolution is Shaping Cancer Research: Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the science behind some of the most promising projects Cancer Research UK is currently supporting, from early detection to novel therapeutics.
🤖 NHSE’s tough message on tech: Tech sits at the heart of the government's 10-Year Health Plan, but NHS England has warned that a leadership void is slowing delivery across everything from EPR rollouts to AI adoption.
👩🏻💻 The Future of Tech Transfer: News roundup with NIH funding shifts, plus insights from Heather Steinman and Carole Burns on the future of tech transfer and commercialising research.
Apply ✍️
🤝 Scientific Consultant, Genedata: Like helping scientists make sense of messy data? Guide biopharma teams using the Genedata Screener, blending science, tech, and project work to shape how biological data is analysed and applied.
🎬 Director, Competitive Intelligence, Envision Pharma: Got a sharp eye for pharma strategy? Lead high-value intelligence projects, build senior client relationships, and turn insights into growth across biotech and pharma accounts.
🧪 Chief Scientist – IHC & FISH, Leica Biosystems: Expert in tissue diagnostics? Set scientific direction across IHC and FISH, driving innovation, assay development, and translational strategy in advanced pathology technologies.
RSVP 📆
🇮🇹 16-17.04 | 16th International Conference on Biotechnology | Rome, Italy: A global gathering exploring how living systems can address challenges across health, energy, and the environment, from novel therapeutics to sustainable industrial applications.
🌱 21.04 | BioSolutions UK | London, UK: Hosted by the BIA, this London event brings together startups, investors, and policymakers to explore how engineering biology is shaping the future bioeconomy.
📑 29.04 | The Hardian Health Tech Summit | London, UK: Regulators from the MHRA, FDA, and NICE join NHS leaders and industry professionals for real-world insight into regulation and market access in medical devices.
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