Artisan Biopharma

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/

04/30/2026

Across the Pond: the Sarcoma UK 5-year vision

Sarcoma UK is a nonprofit organization who published this concise seven page 5 year strategy. An excerpt of the summary & perspectives by Lucy and team is below.

Summary: Sarcoma cases in the UK are increasing, with thousands diagnosed each year and many more expected in oncoming years ... The approval of sarcoma drugs is infrequent, with some sarcoma patients still being treated with drugs from the 1970s. To address these issues, Sarcoma UK’s new 2026–2031 strategy aims to expand support, improve diagnosis and treatment, increase research funding, and strengthen collaboration across the healthcare system. The goal is to ensure faster diagnoses, better care, and equal access to support so that patients can live longer, healthier lives.

Recommendation 1: Healthcare providers should be trained to recognize sarcoma symptoms sooner ...

Recommendation 2: Patients should be referred more quickly ...

Recommendation 3: More government and private funding should be allocated ... and international collaboration is cited as a key new effort.

Our Perspective:
We are especially heartened by the “international” scope of collaborations suggested by Sarcoma UK, and hope that these collaborations go across both academic and biopharma efforts.

For a link to the strategy, a full summary, and our perspective, please see https://artisanbio.com/across-the-pond-the-sarcoma-uk-5-year-vision/

04/21/2026

The whitepaper on Redefining a Pediatric Cancer Drug Development (here) is not peer-reviewed, and is greatly reminiscent of the iconic 11-year old video by Noah’s Light Foundation, but given the group is in the ecosystem, we summarize and give a perspective on the whitepaper here:
Summary:
The authors cite the failure to develop childhood cancer treatments due to lack of support. An assertion is that main issue isn’t a lack of scientific discoveries, but the failure to turn those discoveries into actual treatments. While early research is funded by public and philanthropic sources, the later stage, clinical drug development, depends on industry support, which is often lacking. As a result, many promising treatments stall in the “valley of death” due to a disparity in industry focus, incentives, and ownership. The approach suggested is strong partnerships with academic hospitals and funding from mission-driven sources such as foundations, family offices, impact investors, and venture philanthropy groups.

For the review's recommendations and our important Perspective, see Lucy’s News & Perspectives Series at the artisanbio.com website.