#immunooncology

FDA Panel Urges New ‘Living Drug’ To Fight Cancer

by Denise Grady / NY Times

A Food and Drug Administration panel opened a new era in medicine on Wednesday, unanimously recommending that the agency approve the first-ever treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own cells to fight cancer, transforming them into what scientists call “a living drug” that powerfully bolsters the immune system to shut down the disease.

Learn more about CAR T-Cell Therapy

If the F.D.A. accepts the recommendation, which is likely, the treatment will be the first gene therapy ever to reach the market. Others are expected: Researchers and drug companies have been engaged in intense competition for decades to reach this milestone. Novartis is now poised to be the first. Its treatment is for a type of leukemia, and it is working on similar types of treatments in hundreds of patients for another form of the disease, as well as multiple myeloma and an aggressive brain tumor.

To use the technique, a separate treatment must be created for each patient, their cells removed at an approved medical center, frozen, shipped to a Novartis plant for thawing and processing, frozen again and shipped back to the treatment center.

A single dose of the resulting product has brought long remissions, and possibly cures, to scores of patients in studies who were facing death because every other treatment had failed. The panel recommended approving the treatment for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia that has resisted treatment, or relapsed, in children and young adults aged 3 to 25.

One of those patients, Emily Whitehead, now 12 and the first child ever given the altered cells, was at the meeting of the panel with her parents to advocate for approval of the drug that saved her life. In 2012, as a 6-year-old, she was treated in a study at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Severe side effects, raging fever, crashing blood pressure, lung congestion, nearly killed her. But she emerged cancer free, and has remained so.

BostonGene will present its latest AI foundation models at the 22nd Annual RadMed Symposium, highlighting how multimodal AI and blood-based immune profiling are helping predict immunotherapy response, assess toxicity risk, and improve patient stratification. The session will demonstrate how AI-driven insights can accelerate precision oncology research and support smarter drug development.

The global head & neck cancer therapeutics market size is calculated at US$ 2.65 billion in 2025, grew to US$ 2.97 billion in 2026, and is projected to reach around US$ 8.14 billion by 2035. The market is expanding at a CAGR of 11.87% between 2026 and 2035.

Key Takeaways

Head & neck cancer therapeutics sector pushed the market to USD 2.65 billion by 2025.

Long-term projections show USD 8.14 billion valuation by 2035.

Growth is expected at a steady CAGR of 11.87% in between 2026 to 2035.

North America led the market with nearly 45% revenue share in 2024. 

Asia Pacific is expected to register the fastest growth during 2025-2034.

Nanotechnology for immuno-oncology Summary Nanotechnology offers promising solutions for immuno-oncology, enhancing cancer immunotherapy’s effectiveness. Nanoparticles can improve drug delivery to tumors and immune cells, overcoming limitations of traditional methods like poor solubility and systemic toxicity. They can also stimulate immune responses directly by carrying antigens, adjuvants, or…