ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.New Mexico-based SolaranRx, Inc., and STC.UNM have signed an exclusive option agreement for a novel technology platform for treating metastatic melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The technology shows promise as personalized medicine, providing a targeted, safe and cost-effective treatment for advanced melanoma.
MRV Research
Cost-Effectiveness of Treatment Strategies for BRAF-Mutated Metastatic Melanoma
Genetically-targeted therapies are both promising and costly advances in the field of oncology. Several treatments for metastatic melanoma with a mutation in the BRAF gene have been approved. They extend life but are more expensive than the previous standard of care (dacarbazine). Vemurafenib, the first drug in this class, costs $13,000 per month ($207,000 for a patient with median survival). Patients failing vemurafenib are often given ipilimumab, an immunomodulator, at $150,000 per course. Assessment of cost-effectiveness is a valuable tool to help navigate the transition toward targeted cancer therapy.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Challenges Patent on Merck’s Pembrolizumab
Bristol-Myers Squibb has filed a lawsuit over Merck’s newly approved immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda), contending that the much-heralded PD-1 inhibitor will infringe upon patents that Bristol-Myers holds on the groundbreaking technology.
Moles Increase Melanoma Risk
Moles on body are an early warning sign of melanoma, researchers say.
According to scientists at the University of Melbourne, the University of Oxford and colleagues, moles on body can increase melanoma risk by four times.