Nanobiotix, a late clinical-stage nanomedicine company, has started a pre-clinical collaboration with the Providence Cancer Institute to study NBTXR3 — a nanoparticle designed for direct injection into cancerous tumours and activation by radiotherapy.
Pancreatic cancer
This collaboration will provide essential research into the ability of Nanobiotix’s lead product candidate, once activated by radiotherapy, to induce an anti-tumour response in pancreatic cancer models.
“Promising pre-clinical data suggests that nanoparticles combined with radiotherapy enhance tumour-specific immune responses and lead to an abscopal response, priming a patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells outside of the radiotherapy target area,” explained Dr Marka R. Crittenden, PhD, radiation oncologist and director of Translational Radiation Research at the Robert W. Franz Cancer Center and the programme’s lead. “Furthermore, we are absolutely delighted to partner with Nanobiotix to advance our research on this phenomenon and the role NBTXR3 can play in immuno-oncology.”
Additionally, the company has received the approval of its investigational new drug (IND) submission and is getting ready to launch its first clinical trial combining NBTXR3 with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the US with a multi-arm trial targeting a sub-population of advanced lung cancer patients and head and neck cancer patients.