EU Approves New Cancer Drug, Funds AI Health Tech
The European Union has granted marketing authorization for Anktiva, an immunotherapy option developed by ImmunityBio. In a separate development, the health tech company DeepPiction secured a €2.5 million EIC grant to advance its AI-powered technology for treating Long COVID.
- Anktiva, when used with the tuberculosis vaccine BCG, is the first immunotherapy approved in Europe specifically for adult patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ. Before this, the primary alternative for these patients was the complete removal of the bladder. - The European Commission's approval is a "conditional marketing authorization," which is a pathway to provide earlier access to medicines that address unmet needs. This requires ImmunityBio to submit long-term follow-up data on the drug's safety and effectiveness for annual renewal. - Anktiva is an IL-15 superagonist complex that activates the body's natural killer (NK) cells and T cells to fight the cancer. This mechanism is designed to create a long-lasting immune response. - ImmunityBio is also developing a "NANT Cancer Vaccine" which combines Anktiva with other agents to target various cancers, including pancreatic and those associated with Lynch syndrome. - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator program, which funded DeepPiction, supports high-risk, high-impact innovations from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with grants up to €2.5 million and equity investments. - Public sector adoption of AI across Europe is moving from debating ethics to practical deployment in areas like citizen services, with a focus on maintaining digital sovereignty. Case studies include chatbots for public service portals in Portugal and service robots in German citizen advice bureaus. - In 2021, the EU's Horizon Europe program allocated over €100 million for large cohort studies on the long-term consequences of COVID-19. Research funded by such programs is exploring the role of autoantibodies and viral persistence in Long COVID, testing potential treatments like immunoadsorption and antivirals. - The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been updated to version 2.2, which public sector bodies in the EU and UK are expected to adopt. This new standard introduces nine additional success criteria focused on improving accessibility for users with low vision, cognitive or learning disabilities, and motor disabilities.
