APRIL 24, 2017 Nathan and Natalia Got Married

Guess WHERE they are. . . . .

Adam's Open West Project

Lehi biotech company developing cancer treatment drug. Jason Lee Deseret News

Today, David Bearss is chief executive officer of Lehi-based biotech firm Tolero Pharmaceuticals, whose team of scientists is conducting clinical trials on a drug that has shown promise in treating acute myeloid leukemia, or AML.

According to the American Cancer Society, AML is a blood disease that starts in the bone marrow and in most cases quickly moves into the blood and sometimes can spread to other parts of the body.

There have been few new therapies for acute myeloid leukemia over the years, Bearss said, and his company's research has been able to identify cells that can target specific markers of AML.

"We're trying to treat cells at a cellular and molecular level," he said.

The company's lead drug candidate, alvocidib, is in midstage development. It can be considered the “treatment of last resort” to help AML patients when other treatments fail, Bearss said.

Tolero was acquired by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, a large Japanese pharmaceutical company, in December 2016.

Scientists at Tolero discovered in its clinical trials that their drug appears to be effective in patients with AML.

"What is does is targets a pathway that cancers use to survive," explained Bearss, who holds a doctorate in cell and structural biology from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio and a bachelor's degree from BYU.

"Our body has ways to get rid of things that are going wrong. One of the things that cancer cells have figured out is how to not die. Cancer cells have an inherent ability to (survive)," he said.

Researchers are working to determine the specific pathway AML cells are taking in the body so they can develop a treatment that will target that specific pathway and help patients with that particular biomarker cell in their individual cancer profile, Bearss said.

Alvocidib is currently being investigated in the second stage of a clinical study for AML patients with a specific biomarker in the U.S., and a new drug application is expected to be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year, he explained.

Currently, survival rates for AML patients are about 25 percent over five years, Bearss said. He's hoping the company's team of scientists can increase that rate significantly with their targeted cell approach.

Jason Lee Deseret News

F.D.A. Will Allow 23andMe to Sell Genetic Tests for Disease Risk to Consumers

For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration said it would allow a company to sell genetic tests for disease risk directly to consumers, providing people with information about the likelihood that they could develop various conditions, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

The move on Thursday is a turnaround for the agency, which had imposed a moratorium in 2013 on disease tests sold by the company, 23andMe, which is based in Mountain View, Calif. The decision is expected to open the floodgates for more direct-to-consumer tests for disease risks, drawing a road map for other companies to do the same thing.

23andMe will now be reporting telltale markers for 10 diseases. Most, like factor XI deficiency, a blood clotting disorder, and Gaucher disease type 1, an organ and tissue illness, and celiac disease are rare. Anyone who buys the $199 Ancestry and Health test from the company will automatically learn if they have mutations increasing their risk for those diseases.

Risk genes for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are treated separately. Customers will have to specifically say that they want that information. The company’s website offers links to genetic counselors for those who are weighing whether to be tested. If they want those results they will be included at no extra charge, though patients have to pay for the counseling separately.

Until now, the only way for people to get such genetic tests was to see a medical professional who would order a test and later deliver the results to patients. Often, patients were required to see a genetic counselor before getting a test.

The process for customers is simple. A customer spits into a tube and then mails it to 23andMe. The company’s lab extracts DNA from the saliva cells and tests it with probes that find genetic markers using a special chip for genotyping. In about six to eight weeks the company sends the customer an email saying the results are in. By logging onto an online account, the customer can see the report and its interpretation. It will include not just the genes for disease risk, but also reports of ancestry and results on things like how much the person is likely to weigh and whether alcohol will elicit flushing of the face, shoulders and neck, or even the entire body.

New York Times April 6, 2017