You have filed a patent application that applies to both diagnosis – so-called companion diagnostics – and target-specific treatment of prostate cancer. What does that mean in concrete terms – i.e. what exactly do you want to patent?
– Based on our technological platform GuaDex, we have coupled a PSMA-binding peptide that provides the opportunity to specifically treat tumors that overexpress PSMA. The platform enables both diagnostics and treatment of tumors that express PSMA.
Can you briefly explain what PSMA is?
– It stands for Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen and is a protein that is overexpressed – meaning that there is much more of it than in normal tissue – in the cell membrane, i.e. the outside of the cell, mainly in prostate cancer cells.
What is the competitive situation like when it comes to developing molecules that can bind to PSMA, and how well does your new candidate fare in this competition?
– There is intensive international research work underway in this area, which in most cases is focused on the use of radionuclides for diagnosis and treatment. The PSMA-binding peptide is generally modified directly to be able to bind, or “carry” individual radionuclides, but antibodies against PSMA are also being developed as carriers. The difference – and advantage – of our approach is that it is based on a polymer with multiple possibilities to carry radionuclides and bind many PSMA-binding peptides. It is so-called polyvalent, both with regard to carrier capacity and binding sites to PSMA. The majority of other solutions are monovalent, i.e. can only bind at one site to PSMA and carry a radionuclide. A PSMA antibody is bivalent (PSMA binding) and has a slightly greater carrier capacity, depending on how it is modified.
Your patent application therefore concerns a substance that can “carry” a larger load of cell-killing substances. Does this mean in practice that you have developed a therapeutic treatment for prostate cancer that can provide greater efficacy than was previously possible?
– The main difference from existing projects with PSMA as a target is that the polyvalence of our compound means that it has a greater probability of finding and binding to PSMA on the tumor cells, and thus delivering its larger dose of drug directly to the cell.
In general, there are major challenges with the production of this type of molecule in laboratories for clinical use, how has DexTech solved that problem?
– We can relatively easily adapt the new design to our GMP platform, and herein lies one of the great advantages of our technology.
DexTech has a GMP platform (good manufacturing practice) in place that is protected by three globally approved patents. You believe this platform can be adapted to the production of the new substance. What business advantages does this entail?
– The fact that we have the opportunity to utilize our existing GMP platform for manufacturing is undoubtedly a very strong business argument. In practice, it means that we shorten the path and reduce the cost to reach a phase where we enter clinical research.
CRPC, or castration-resistant prostate cancer, is a notoriously difficult-to-treat form of cancer. What potential do you think this new form of diagnosis and treatment has for helping affected patients?
– PSMA targeting for the treatment of CRPC could become another tool to slow down CRPC, and this is very important because more tools are needed to be able to treat and make CRPC a chronic disease with maintained quality of life.
Patent applications are not regularly published by all biotech and pharmaceutical companies, but in this case you have chosen to do so. Why? Is it because it is both a new drug candidate and a new form of diagnostics?
– This is a relatively “hot” research field and we would like to demonstrate the possibilities of our technology platform. We also want to inform the public, patients and our shareholders about the company's research work and the progress we are continuously making in this work.
You are now looking for a development partner for the new drug candidate. How do you see the possibilities of finding such a partner, and what is the general interest in this type of innovation?
– There should be great interest in the innovation as such among potential partners. An exploratory study has begun, but I ask to return to this, concludes Anders R Holmberg, CEO of DexTech Medical.
Also read BioStock's latest article about DexTech Medical here: Favorable licensing market awaits DexTech Medical
The content of Biostock's news and analysis is independent, but Biostock's operations are to some extent financed by companies in the industry. This post refers to a company from which BioStock has received funding.
Get analyses and news directly on your mobile with BioStock's mobile app!
