DENVER & AURORA, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TriSalus Life Sciences®, an immunotherapy company on a mission to extend and improve the lives of patients living with liver and pancreatic tumors, today announced a strategic research collaboration with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to advance research of immuno-oncology treatments for patients with liver and pancreatic tumors. This collaboration will leverage TriSalus’ immunotherapy platform, which integrates immunotherapeutics and innovative drug delivery technology to address the unique challenges of treating tumors in the liver and pancreas and improve outcomes for patients.
Over the next three years, TriSalus will collaborate with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on studies using TriSalus’ proprietary Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ (PEDD™) method for the administration of an investigational toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, SD-101. Pre-clinical and clinical studies involving this platform aim to build upon the scientific knowledge around treatments available for cancers of the liver and pancreas and enable more patients to benefit from immunotherapy. In collaborating with TriSalus, CU Innovations has led the establishment of the business relationship while the CU Anschutz research team will focus on creating clinical research to advance TriSalus’ approach.
“This collaboration bolsters the instructional and research objectives of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus while fostering the development of scientific knowledge that can improve patient care,” said Gordon McLennan, MD, vice chairman for clinical research and section chief of interventional radiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “As a world-class medical institution at the forefront of transformative science, education and healthcare, we look forward to collaborating with TriSalus Life Sciences to help bring potentially transformative treatments to patients living with liver and pancreatic cancers.”
Despite progress in cancer treatment, patients with liver and pancreatic tumors still experience poor outcomes, as these tumors remain stubbornly difficult to treat. Two of the most significant barriers that prevent optimal delivery and performance of therapeutics for these tumors include immune response suppression and ineffective drug delivery due to high intratumoral pressure. Together, these barriers prevent therapeutics from getting inside tumors and limit the effectiveness of immunotherapy for patients.
“Supporting pre-clinical and clinical research that pushes the boundaries of current knowledge will help us to advance promising therapies for patients with liver and pancreatic tumors, who are in desperate need of more effective treatments,” said Christopher Lieu, MD, associate director of clinical research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
TriSalus’ platform consists of an investigational immunotherapy, SD-101, that aims to reactivate the immune system within these organs for targeted tumor killing, and the Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ method, that modulates pressure and flow within blood vessels to improve therapy uptake and tumor response.
“Collaborating with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus exemplifies our commitment to overcome current limitations of immunotherapy treatment for liver and pancreatic tumors,” said Steven C. Katz, MD, FACS, chief medical officer at TriSalus. “By combining our collective expertise in cancer research, together we can help realize the potential for the TriSalus platform to bring meaningful benefit to patients.”
The collaboration with University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus extends TriSalus’ ongoing partnerships with the country’s leading cancer centers. To learn more about clinical trials underway, visit trisaluslifesci.com.
About TriSalus Life Sciences
TriSalus Life Sciences is an immunotherapy company on a mission to extend and improve the lives of patients living with liver and pancreatic tumors. By integrating an immunotherapeutic with innovative drug delivery technologies, TriSalus’ platform seeks to address two of the most significant barriers that limit the effectiveness of current treatments for liver and pancreatic tumors: immunosuppression and high intratumoral pressure.
The company is studying the ability of SD-101, a potentially first-in-class, investigative TLR9 agonist, to reactivate the immune system within the liver and pancreas to enable more durable responses to other immunotherapeutics (e.g., checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T-cell therapy) and improve patient outcomes. The platform, which leverages TriSalus’ proprietary Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery™ (PEDD™) method of administration, modulates pressure and flow within blood vessels to improve the amount of therapy delivered to the tumor. While meaningful progress in these difficult-to-treat diseases will not be easy, TriSalus is focused on advancing science and technological innovation to transform outcomes for patients. To learn more, visit www.trisaluslifesci.com and follow us on Twitter @TriSalusLifeSci and LinkedIn.
About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked independent hospitals – UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado – that treat more than two million adult and pediatric patients each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus delivers life-changing treatments, patient care and professional training and conducts world-renowned research fueled by over $650 million in research grants. For more information, visit www.cuanschutz.edu.
