Following the review of the encouraging preclinical data generated by these PDC compounds across multiple solid tumour types, the parties have decided to extend the collaboration.
The aim of the extension is to allow further evaluation of the synergistic effects of the phospholipid ether when combined with Pierre Fabre’s cytotoxic payloads.
The programme teams will continue to explore the new PDC compounds to expedite the development of the novel targeted chemotherapeutics towards essential medicines.
The research collaboration was entered into with the original objective to co-design a small library of PDCs to achieve in vivo proof-of-concept for these newly constructed compounds.
Jim Caruso, President and CEO of Cellectar Biosciences, said: “The extension of the existing research agreement with Pierre Fabre is a tribute to the success of our collaboration to date and the promise of our next generation delivery technology.
“The PDC molecules have demonstrated a clear cancer targeting advantage in comparison to unconjugated payloads. We look forward to leveraging the synergistic technologies and skills of our respective organisations to further advance this exciting research.”
Cellectar’s product candidates are built upon its patented cancer cell targeting delivery and retention platform of optimised PDCs. The basis for selective tumour targeting of its PDC compounds lies in the differences between the plasma membranes of cancer cells compared to those of normal cells.
Cancer cell membranes are highly enriched in lipid rafts, which are glycolipoprotein microdomains of the plasma membrane of cells containing high concentrations of cholesterol and sphingolipids and acting to organise cell surface and intracellular signalling molecules. PDCs have been tested in more than 80 different xenograft models of cancer.
