Unmet Need / Invention Novelty: Clinical translation of various has been limited due to poor solubility and toxicity for repurposed anti-cancer applications. There exists an unmet need to develop new strategies to overcome these limitations.
Technical Details: Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed a novel prodrug strategy to improve solubility and minimize toxicity of various drugs. Briefly, drugs are chemically coupled to a water-soluble dipeptide substrate for a protease that is specifically upregulated in the tumor microenvironment (TME), permitting selective release of the drug in the TME. The protease that is upregulated in the TME of most solid tumors. Proof of concept studies in vitro and mouse models of prostate cancer have demonstrated superior anti-cancer activity.
Value Proposition:
• Targeted drug activity at the TME without effects on healthy tissue
• Superior anti-tumor activity in mouse models of primary and castration resistant prostate cancer
• Drugs are stable, soluble, well tolerated, and non-toxic in mice
• Broadly applicable to various drugs and cancer types
Looking for Partners to: Develop & commercialize as a novel cancer drugs.
Stage of Development: Pre-Clinical
Data Availability: in vitro and in vivo
Inventors: William Brennen, John Isaacs, Samuel Denmeade & Emmanuel Akinboye
Patent Status: PCT patent application filed.
Publication(s): N/A
