James P. Allison

With no other therapy, just one round of therapy, you're done. When Tosca came along with this other molecule called PD-1, which works a slightly different way, but the overall picture's similar enough. It's another checkpoint that works differently. If you put them together, there was just a trial that was just reported about a month ago.

With no other therapy, just one round of therapy, you're done. When Tosca came along with this other molecule called PD-1, which works a slightly different way, but the overall picture's similar enough. It's another checkpoint that works differently. If you put them together, there was just a trial that was just reported about a month ago.

There was over a thousand people, randomized, 10 different countries, I don't know how many different PIs. I mean, the gold standard of clinical trials, 10 years follow up, 55% of the patients were still alive. So now we went from a cancer, which was almost uniformly fatal in less than five years till we could cure more than 50% of the people with that.

There was over a thousand people, randomized, 10 different countries, I don't know how many different PIs. I mean, the gold standard of clinical trials, 10 years follow up, 55% of the patients were still alive. So now we went from a cancer, which was almost uniformly fatal in less than five years till we could cure more than 50% of the people with that.

And that's exactly what we're working on now is how do we get that to a hundred?

And that's exactly what we're working on now is how do we get that to a hundred?

And unfortunately, I don't want to get into that, but I'm not sure that the drug companies seem to be happy with 55% or so. Anyway, it gets harder now. But that is the question, right? I mean, to me, that's why we have this thing called, we have this institute that's been founded in Anderson. Its whole goal is how do we make that better?

And unfortunately, I don't want to get into that, but I'm not sure that the drug companies seem to be happy with 55% or so. Anyway, it gets harder now. But that is the question, right? I mean, to me, that's why we have this thing called, we have this institute that's been founded in Anderson. Its whole goal is how do we make that better?

And the way you make that better, again, is by bringing the myeloid cells in there. What are the ways, what are the things that are real? Now we know, for example, there are a lot more of these things called checkpoints. Probably, I mean, there's a small number. It's probably a dozen, maybe. I don't know for sure. But that influence the immune system in various ways that they regulate it.

And the way you make that better, again, is by bringing the myeloid cells in there. What are the ways, what are the things that are real? Now we know, for example, there are a lot more of these things called checkpoints. Probably, I mean, there's a small number. It's probably a dozen, maybe. I don't know for sure. But that influence the immune system in various ways that they regulate it.

And some of them only pop up when you take one off. In one sense, it's whack-a-mole. You take one off and another one, because the immune system tries to regulate itself. The biology is just wonderful, just wonderfully complicated. And the way it all fits together to make sure that everything that can happen, there's a counterweight to it. Multiple ways of built in.

And some of them only pop up when you take one off. In one sense, it's whack-a-mole. You take one off and another one, because the immune system tries to regulate itself. The biology is just wonderful, just wonderfully complicated. And the way it all fits together to make sure that everything that can happen, there's a counterweight to it. Multiple ways of built in.

But because it doesn't want to kill you. I mean, there are more ways of turning an immune response off than there are turning it on. Simply because the consequences of having it work when it shouldn't are too devastating, particularly if it kills you when you're young, you know. So it's all tuned to do that. But anyway, so one of the cardinal rules in performing drug development is

But because it doesn't want to kill you. I mean, there are more ways of turning an immune response off than there are turning it on. Simply because the consequences of having it work when it shouldn't are too devastating, particularly if it kills you when you're young, you know. So it's all tuned to do that. But anyway, so one of the cardinal rules in performing drug development is

Make sure something has a single agent activity before you combine it with something else. That paradigm is shot here because some of those molecules aren't even expressed until you give one of the other ones. And so we've got to get off of that sort of thing and understand it mechanistically.

Make sure something has a single agent activity before you combine it with something else. That paradigm is shot here because some of those molecules aren't even expressed until you give one of the other ones. And so we've got to get off of that sort of thing and understand it mechanistically.

And so that's, I mean, what we're doing is going into humans as soon as we can, as soon as we know it's safe and giving combinations to get biopsies and seeing what happened, what new molecules came out.

And so that's, I mean, what we're doing is going into humans as soon as we can, as soon as we know it's safe and giving combinations to get biopsies and seeing what happened, what new molecules came out.

Because now we can measure the advances that have been made in biology in terms of being able to do single cell transcriptomics and knowing every gene that's expressed essentially and every protein that's made allows us to really understand what's going on. So if we can get biopsies after treatment, we can begin to unravel all this stuff.

Because now we can measure the advances that have been made in biology in terms of being able to do single cell transcriptomics and knowing every gene that's expressed essentially and every protein that's made allows us to really understand what's going on. So if we can get biopsies after treatment, we can begin to unravel all this stuff.