CancerVax, the developer of a breakthrough universal cancer treatment platform that uses the body’s immune system to treat cancer, today announced that the initial biodistribution study of its targeted lipid nanoparticle (LNP) in mice was successful.
Most conventional LNPs get trapped in the liver and cause liver toxicity. This is a major reason why many LNP therapies fail in clinical trials. In this study, a large proportion of CancerVax LNPs did not appear to accumulate in the liver compared to the base conventional LNP formulation. This may indicate systemic circulation and distribution to organs and tissues where cancer might occur.
The CancerVax platform is designed to harness the body’s existing immunity to detect, mark, and kill cancer cells with precision. At the core of the platform are customizable nanoparticles that use a novel two-step precision cancer targeting mechanism.
- Detection: The nanoparticles first bind to surface proteins highly associated with the target cancer cells (Marker1).
- Activation: Once inside the cancer cell, the nanoparticles release proprietary ‘Smart mRNA’ payloads that are only activated in the presence of cancer-specific genetic signatures (Marker2). These Smart mRNAs instruct the cancer cells to produce proteins associated with well-immunized diseases like measles. This effectively “tricks” the immune system into killing cancer cells as if they were common diseases.
Marker1 delivers the nanoparticles to cells expressing the corresponding surface protein and Marker2 selects only cancerous cells from that group to activate the mRNA therapeutic payload. Using different combinations of Marker1 and Marker2 will target different cancers to disguise them as known diseases and trick the body into attacking them with strength.
Recently, the company completed its animal-grade Marker1-LNP and was able to proceed with its much-anticipated mouse studies. The Marker1-LNP was designed to specifically target the previously announced indications of pancreatic cancer and liver cancer.
The first mouse study was a biodistribution study where Marker1-LNPs were injected and tracked across numerous tissues. The results exceeded the Company’s expectations.
Some breakthrough results included the following and demonstrated the power and versatility of the CancerVax platform:
- Systemic Circulation of the LNPs: This will allow the CancerVax therapy to reach many tissues and organs and avoid the common problem of LNP liver accumulation that causes liver damage and liver failure.
- Distribution Noted in Many Organs: Spleen, Lung, Liver, Kidney, Intestines, Pancreas, Bladder, Heart, Stomach, Ovaries/Testes. This encouraging datapoint will allow the Company to expand its research program to include many more cancer indications for its universal cancer treatment platform.
- Dosage Response: A clear dose response was observed in this study of 24 mice, with signal intensity increasing alongside administered dose levels. Importantly, all animals remained healthy and active during the study, suggesting strong tolerability of the Marker1-LNP formulation.
