Value Proposition:
· Intracranial wafers deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to the tumor, circumventing pharmacokinetic barriers.
· Repurposes acriflavine and polymers, both with other FDA approvals, for malignant glioma.
· High-efficacy treatment option to prolong survival for the most common form of aggressive brain cancer.
· 10-fold increase in survival with no toxicity observed in in vivo models.
Unmet Need:
Malignant gliomas, including cancers such as gliosarcoma and glioblastoma multiforme, are tumors composed of the supporting glial cells in the brain. These tumors are the most common form of brain cancer and are highly aggressive with a five-year survival rate of less than 7%. There is no cure for glioma; treatment options include surgical resection if accessible, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, all aimed at prolonging survival. Treatment is complicated by accessibility through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Therefore, there is a dire unmet need for improved and possibly curative treatment options for malignant glioma that can subvert the BBB.
Technology Description:
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed a treatment for malignant glioma using biodegradable polymers. Polymer wafers steadily release acriflavine, a sleeping sickness drug found to have anti-cancer properties. They are placed intracranially. Acriflavine is delivered directly to the tumor, circumventing challenges with bioavailability and the BBB. Glioma mouse models survived over 120 days during acriflavine treatment, compared to controls’ survival of 11 – 12 days. This technology represents a new method of treatment using repurposed drugs that can substantially improve survival in patients with one of the most lethal forms of cancer.
Stage of Development:
· Preclinical development – researchers have published data on these wafers using cell lines and in vivo mouse models for malignant glioma.
Data Availability:
· Data available upon request.
Publication:
Mangraviti A, et al. “HIF-1α- Targeting Acriflavine Provides Long Term Survival and Radiological Tumor Response in Brain Cancer Therapy.” Nature Scientific Reports. November 2, 2017. PubMed ID: 29097800.
