Defence Therapeutics Inc. has established a collaboration with the HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center at Helsinki, Finland, for the optimisation of Defence’s Accum-T-DM1 ADC Therapeutic.
Defence Therapeutics Inc. and the HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center, Finland’s largest and most versatile cancer treatment centre, entered the collaboration for the preclinical selection of an optimised Accum-T-DM1 conjugate based on in vitro assessments.
The studies will guide the selection of optimal Accum-T-DM1 for further in vivo testing on breast cancer and gastric cancer animal models.
Accum-T-DM1 ADC Therapeutic
T-DM1 (Ado-trastuzumab, Kadcyla®) was approved by the FDA in 2013 to treat women with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. The Kadcyla® ADC antibody portion of this drug serves as a homing device to the chemotherapeutic drug emtansine. Clinical and pre-clinical studies have shown that intracellular drug delivery to breast cancer cells may not be optimal, causing treatment resistance and recurrence.
Combining the Accum technology to the Kadcyla® ADC is expected to amplify the therapeutic index of the drug, while potentially minimising side effects observed in patients undergoing the therapy.
Defence’s Accum platform has been developed and tested in vitro to enhance the intracellular drug delivery on multiple ADCs that are FDA approved or under development.
Sebastien Plouffe, Chief Executive Officer of Defence Therapeutics, said: “We have a longstanding experience in the field of ADC therapeutics, and we believe that the HUS Comprehensive Cancer Center represents an ideal collaborator for the ongoing development of the optimized Accum-T-DM1 conjugate. We look forward to the continued advancement of our Accum-modified pipeline.”
Currently, the T-DM1 regiment consists of a three-week treatment cycle for up to 14 cycles. By linking Defence’s Accum to T-DM1, the regiment will most likely be shorter due to the enhanced therapeutic effect of the ADC.
