Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is based in Pasadena, Calif., last week suspended enrollment in a liver-disease trial for at least four weeks because the study needs patients who are at risk for coronavirus infections and who must get a liver biopsy, which requires visiting a clinic, said Chief Executive Christopher Anzalone.

Everyone agrees that a vaccine will be essential to stop the global spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But Ofer Levy, a physician-scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital, worries that vaccines being designed today are not going to be effective enough for the people who need them most: older adults.

A North Carolina biopharmaceutical company is developing a test for the novel coronavirus that can deliver results in just 30 minutes. Heat Biologics, based in Durham, has partnered with the University of Miami to design a test that can diagnose patients in just a fraction of the time compared to most other tests.

There are a few things from my interview with Chris Anzalone, Ph.D., CEO of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, that weren’t included in April’s printed article. But as I found them instructive and funny, I thought it a good idea to share via Life Science Leader’s online exclusive — Beyond The Printed Page.

Long before the coronavirus began to spread beyond China, infectious disease experts around the world knew there was ample reason to fear it. Not only was the pathogen highly contagious and lethal, it was also new—scientists had written no medical papers on it, doctors had no vaccines or pills to give their patients. The most effective tools we have, at the moment, are public health measures out of the 19th century such as quarantines and social distancing.

Irvine, CA-based Oncocyte inherited the DetermaIO test when it acquired Insight Genetics earlier this year. The company said it has completed Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments (CLIA) validation for the test. Oncocyte said it has completed Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments (CLIA) validation for its DetermaIO. The Irvine, CA-based company said the diagnostic, which was previously known as the Insight Genetics IM Score Test, is used in lung cancer patients to identify individuals more or less likely to respond to anti-PD-1/PD-LI immunotherapy.

Cancer diagnostic developer Oncocyte is pioneering early-stage detection with novel RNA-based tests for lung cancer. Limitations of Current Biomarkers Most blood-based early cancer detection diagnostics in development are based on the analysis of cell-free and tumor-circulating DNA. In order for tumor DNA to be present in the blood of a cancer patient, however, the tumor must be quite large. These diagnostics, therefore, typically only detect mid- to late-stage cancers, and await demonstration that early detection of these large tumors impacts outcomes.

Effectively harnessing the immune system requires activation of natural killer, dendritic, and T cells. NantKwest is developing off-the-shelf therapies that have shown great promise in initial clinical studies. Emilie Branch, editor at Pharma’s Almanac, sat down with NantKwest’s Chairman and CEO, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, to discuss this exciting treatment option and find out why it could be one of the most promising developments in oncology to date.