A cutaway illustration of the nanogel developed by professor Tarek Fahmy. The small particle can carry multiple drug agents to a specific target, such as the site of a tumor. (Illustration by Nicolle Rager Fuller, NSF)
Yale researchers created a new nanogel particle able to carry multiple drugs, including immunotherapies, to disease sites such as cancer throughout the body.
The nanogel is now about to be tested in a clinical trial against cancer by ferrying a combination of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and a tissue growth factor (TGF beta) inhibitor. The two drugs are very different chemically and in their size, so transporting them using the same particle type has been challenging before. The nanogel solves this problem and encapsulates both in proper concentrations for well targeted delivery.
The IL-2 helps the immune system target the cancer while TGF beta inhibitor slows the cancer cells’ ability to avoid the immune response.
Some more details according to a Yale announcement:
TVM Life Science Ventures VII is providing funding to Modulate Therapeutics Inc. to develop the drug to clinical proof of concept. Modulate secured the rights to IMM-01 from Yale and the Yale start-up company Immunova L.L.C., which was co-founded by Fahmy, Johns Hopkins University professor of oncology Ephraim Fuchs, and entrepreneur Bernard Friedman.
Source: Yale…