Artisan Biopharma

06/16/2026

Another crossover from our sister R&D lab, here showing the complex tumor cell subtypes of a childhood muscle cancer. Fortunately, the common denominator might be a single driver (PAX::FOXO)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AGqtrLifj/

Hot Off the Press! This Scientific Reports paper from cc-TDI describes the beautiful complexity of at least 11 (yes, eleven) subtypes of cancer cells found in rhabdomyosarcoma. Curiously, human cell lines only reflect a few.

This work was done by cc-TDI lab members Guak-Kim Tan and Zu-Yuan Qian with help from cc-TDI student researchers Sofia Tosoni and Gillian St John. Collaborators included Kavya Kannan, Hollis Wright and Melvin Lathara (datma/ODA), Sonja Chen (Nationwide Children's Hospital) and Brian Rubin (Cleveland Clinic). Acknowledgements go to Mattie Clark for important technical contributions.

Funding was made possible by Avery's Rhabdo Blast! project, the Ally Anderson AlveolarRhabdomyosarcoma Research Fund at Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation, The Megan's Mission Foundation and NIH.

For the full article, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-57841-3

06/15/2026

A cross-over from Artisan's sister R&D lab, cc-TDI

International ThinkTank ranks Rhabdomyosarcoma Targets

The British Journal of Cancer is hot off the press: LifeArc brought together 45 international experts in rms science and treatment to prioritize new drug approaches. We're excited about PAX::FOXO1 itself, as discussed in this consensus paper.

For the full article, see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-026-03483-1

06/10/2026

Do FDA-approved Cancer Drugs Really Take 6 Years to Reach Children?

This 2019 article discusses the delay at the time in making FDA-approved cancer drugs available to children. A study co-authored by Steven G. DuBois, MD, of Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that oncology drugs take a median of 6.5 years to progress from first-in-human to first-in-child clinical trials. Of 117 cancer drugs approved between 1997 and 2017, only 6 had initial pediatric indications, while 15 had never been tested in children.

For Lucy's full summary and time-warp perspective, see https://artisanbio.com/news/

06/10/2026

Pediatric Brain Tumors at-a-glance

This infographic by the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation highlights the serious impact of pediatric brain and CNS tumors in the United States. Overall, this infographic highlights the severity of pediatric brain tumors and the importance of improving awareness, treatment, and research efforts.

For Lucy's complete summary and perspective, see https://artisanbio.com/news/

06/09/2026

Quality control and childhood cancer medicines

The Lancet commented on a recurring dilemma in childhood cancer drug development in their editorial, “Quality control and childhood cancer medicines".

The editorial cites The Bureau of Investigative Journalism report that at least 70,000 children with cancer across 90 countries may have been at risk of receiving contaminated and poor-quality asparaginase, a chemotherapy drug commonly used to treat childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

For Lucy's complete summary and perspective, see https://artisanbio.com/news/

06/09/2026

Making Pediatric Cancer Economics Work

Daems and colleagues published a thoughtful reimagination of the childhood cancer drug development ecosystem in Nature Reviews Drug Discover entitled, "a novel apporach to boost drug development in paediatric oncology".

The proposed model would be developed on the basis of three concepts:
(A) pooled funding in a structured capital model,
(B) target-specific special-purpose vehicles (SPVs), and
(C) advanced drug reimbursement agreements

For Lucy's full summary, see https://artisanbio.com/news/

05/19/2026

Exciting news from our ecosystem ...

In our R&D and biopharma ecosystem of cc-TDI and , we congratulate Xiaolei Lian on his study of a tool ADC targeting the IL-13 receptor in the childhood brain tumor, DIPG. As mentioned in the paper, a different and in-licensed antibody is being pursued via the Artisan pipeline, but Xiaolei's paper gives proof-of-concept for the target (IL-13 receptor) and the payload type (a topoisomerase inhibitor). This therapeutic approach was born in an international collaboration we coordinated from the Children's Oncology Group brain tumor committee (a massive effort described in a Scientific American article, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-tackle-lethal-childhood-brain-cancer).

In Xiaolei's newly-published studies, cc-TDI lab team members include Samuel, Victoria, Shefali, Guak-Kim and Noah, as well as interns Paige, Kyle and Emily. Collaborators included Drs. Hoshino, Liu and Lian. Artisan CSO, Dr. Tony Haight is also a key contributor and co-author. This work was funded by The Lyla Nsouli Foundation for Children's Brain Cancer Research, IronMattLarson, Hero Up Half Marathon, and young Ryan McGuire in affiliation with . We thank Tim Brown and Emma Lashyro for support in the design and ex*****on of studies.

05/15/2026

Podcast interview with Eli Lilly/ITCCP4 pediatric cancer drug development pioneer, Dr. Louis (Lou) Stancato! kudos to episode hosts, students Georgia Livny and Anna He. (This is a crossover from for the Childhood Cancer Therapy Toolbox)

link: https://youtu.be/jX6n5-Otum0?si=LQpnEDC7HGdhnW4E

05/14/2026

Thank you to Mark Nelson and Reimi Guerzon for the invitation to attend the Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery Biology Strategy Meeting in San Diego yesterday. AI tools figured prominently in discussions, and the plenary discussion on natural product starting points was very intriguing.

05/10/2026

Economist and parent Sam Daems with colleagues published, “A novel approach to boost drug development in pediatric oncology” in Nature Reviews. Lucy and Team’s summary and perspective, excerpted below.:

This article proposes a new business model to incentivize investors, private companies and public organizations to invest in drug development for pediatric cancers ... The proposed model would be developed on the basis of three concepts:

(A) pooled funding in a structured capital model,
(B) target-specific special-purpose vehicles (SPVs), and
(C) advanced drug reimbursement agreements

For a full summary, link to the article and our perspective, please visit https://artisanbio.com/2026-0504-daems-paper/