17 July 2019 - - US-based biotechnology company Cancer Targeted Technology has started treating patients with advanced stage prostate cancer with its radiotherapeutic drug, CTT1403, in a Phase I clinical trial, the company said.
The clinical trial is being conducted at University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with Dr. Rahul Aggarwal as Principal Investigator.
CTT1403 targets Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen. PSMA is overexpressed on greater than 90% of all prostate cancer and the amount of expression increases as the cancer spreads.
Two features make CTT1403 unique and unlike other PSMA-targeted drugs currently in development: 1.
CTT's molecules bind irreversibly to PSMA and this distinctive mode of binding enhances rapid uptake of the drug within the tumor; and 2.
CTT1403 contains an albumin binding component that increases circulation of the drug in the body and further increases the dose of drug that accumulates at the tumor sites. CTT1403 is labeled with the radionuclide Lutetium-177 and once delivered to the tumor, the radionuclide leads to tumor cell destruction.
On July 5th, 2019, the NIH announced that it was awarding CTT a competitive Small Business Innovation Research Phase IIB grant for ~USD 3.2m (over three years) to help fund the clinical trial and further the development of CTT 1403.
The unique chemical structure for CTT1403 was conceived of by Dr. Cliff Berkman, Professor of Chemistry at Washington State University.
The preclinical work on CTT1403 was conducted by Dr. Carolyn Anderson, Professor of Radiology, and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh.
CTT recently completed clinical trials at UCSF with CTT1057, the companion PET diagnostic to CTT1403, with excellent safety and imaging results. CTT1057 is undergoing further development and commercialisation by CTT's licensing partner AAA/Novartis.
CTT1057 and CTT1403 are intended to act as a theranostic pair to both diagnose and treat prostate cancer and are being used together in the current Phase I clinical trial.