SOUTHLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OncoNano Medicine, Inc., a clinical-stage company utilizing the principles of molecular cooperativity in drug design to exploit universal tumor and immune targets to diagnose and treat cancer, today announced a multi-year collaboration with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) to discover and conduct translational research of novel cancer therapeutics that leverage OncoNano’s core nanotechnology platform. OncoNano will sponsor research efforts in the laboratory of Professor Jinming Gao of UTSW with the objective of uncovering new cancer therapies that can benefit from OncoNano’s ultra pH-sensitive polymeric micelles. OncoNano will have an exclusive option to license new technology arising from the research conducted under this agreement.
“We are excited to expand our research collaboration with the UT Southwestern Medical Center and the prominent UTSW laboratory led by Dr. Jinming Gao,” said Martin Driscoll, Chief Executive Officer of OncoNano Medicine, Inc. “UTSW’s rich scientific discovery environment combined with world-class translational research capabilities presents a wonderful opportunity for our scientists to engage in a multi-year cooperative research effort to leverage our core technology platform and advance more novel cancer therapeutics into clinical development.”
Dr. Gao and his team at UTSW invented the ultra pH-sensitive nanoparticle technology that represents the core of OncoNano’s differentiated oncology research platform. OncoNano is currently advancing two development programs that utilize the ultra pH-sensitive nanoparticle technology. Pegsitacianine, a fluorescent nanoprobe for real-time surgical imaging, is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for multiple tumor types, and ONM-501, a novel dual-activating polyvalent STING agonist for immuno-oncology applications, is advancing toward a first in human study planned for early 2023.
“OncoNano’s multi-year support for basic research will broaden our capability to harness molecular cooperativity design that incorporates pathophysiological responses into the development of tumor-activatable compounds with increased therapeutic windows,” said Jinming Gao, Professor of Oncology, Pharmacology and Cell Biology in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UTSW and Chief Scientific Officer of OncoNano. “We are working to expand the micelle technology platform developed at UTSW so it can be used to deliver additional payloads, including protein therapeutics such as cytokines, checkpoint inhibitors and bispecific antibodies. We look forward to this research collaboration with OncoNano Medicine to continuously translate lab discoveries into potentially important clinical applications.”
About The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty has received six Nobel Prizes and includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,500 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 105,000 hospitalized patients, nearly 370,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 3 million outpatient visits a year.
About OncoNano Medicine, Inc.
OncoNano Medicine is developing a new class of products that utilize principles of molecular cooperativity in their design to exploit universal and immune targets for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Our product candidates and interventions are designed to help patients across the continuum of cancer care and include solid tumor therapeutics, agents for real-time image-guided surgery and a platform of immune-oncology therapeutics that activate and guide the body’s immune system to fight cancer.
OncoNano’s lead development candidate is pegsitacianine, a novel fluorescent nanoprobe, that is currently under study in Phase 2 clinical trials as a real-time surgical imaging agent for use in multiple cancer surgeries. ONM-501, OncoNano’s second development program, is a next generation STING (STimulator of INterferon Genes) agonist that is advancing towards a first in human trial in the first half of 2023. Pegsitacianine and ONM-501 have been supported by grants received from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. Learn more at www.OncoNano.com.
