A NEW DRUG TO TREAT TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER

Project Information

CanceRusolution

Grant agreement ID: 101071749

DOI

10.3030/101071749

Project closed

EC signature date 24 May 2022

Start date 1 June 2022

End date 31 May 2023

Funded under

• European innovation ecosystems

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 75 000,00

Coordinated by

SOMETHING IN HANDS - INVESTIGACAOCIENTIFICA, LDA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CanceRusolution (A NEW DRUG TO TREAT TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER)

Reporting period: 2022-06-01 to 2023-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Survival rates for patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) are as low as 11%. This type of breast cancer is more aggressive and with a poor prognosis since, at a very early stage, it develops metastases, i.e. secondary tumors in other organs. While patients with the most common hormone-dependent breast cancers find in the current chemotherapeutics a clinical cure, TNBC does not have any targeted treatment. As such these patients are subjected to a cocktail of drugs which increases their lives for a short time but do not treat them. In this frame, R-nuucell aims to address this unmet clinical need.
Our innovative ruthenium-based drug, protected by a granted international patent, has shown potential to treat TNBC metastases by targeting actin filaments which are long protein chains, a constituent of cell’s cytoskeleton (like cell’s foundation). Moreover, our drug is also able to overcome cancer multidrug resistance (MDR). Indeed, MDR is responsible for the treatments’ fail of more than 90% of metastatic cancers. Thus, our results are of primordial importance.
Within CanceRusolution we aim at consolidating the in vivo proof-of-concept by gathering data on our drug’s efficiency against TNBC metastases. Additionally, we will gather information on the drug pharmacokinetics by monitoring the concentration of the drug in the plasma, urine, tumor and organs.
The success of this project will be a key contribution to Science and Society. It will impact fundamental science by advancing the state of the art, and also encloses a real chance to develop a metallodrug suitable for an aggressive and untreatable type of cancer. We strongly believe we have a unique product that can save many lives given the opportunity.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The most important achievement obtained in the frame of CanceRusolution was the consolidation of the proof-of-concept of our drug against metastases. For that, we performed assays in immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice. Regarding the immunocompetent mice, a 6-doses treatment cycle was already enough to lead to a reduction of ~30% of metastases. We anticipate that this already remarkable result could be improved by removing the primary tumor by surgery and continue the treatment and/or by increasing the number of treatments.
The pharmacokinetic (PK) study was also key to confirm that our drug presents a very good PK profile since it reaches the tumour and stays at a stable concentration for ~48 h. In addition, the drug is easily cleared from the blood and urine, where its peak is reached at ~4 h post-injection. Finally, the drug is able to reach the main organs where metastization is observed, namely lungs, liver, bones, among others, without causing toxicity, but revealing its potential to treat metastases.
We were also able to scale-up our drug synthesis and nanoformulation by optimizing protocols, which is of upmost importance for the intended future application.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

CanceRusolution is developing a new Ruthenium-based drug to treat Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) for which there is not yet any specific and efficient treatment in the market, making this disease an unmet clinical need.
This scenario anticipates the worldwide impact that the success of our project might achieve with its potential to treat TNBC patients. CancerRusolution allowed us to perform a set of key studies to leverage our project towards a future fundraising level A, needed to perform pre-clinical studies (safety studies; animal pharmacology; drug metabolism studies; and CMC manufacturing) for the next 2-3 years.
After this period, with the success of clinical outcome, our drug will be subjected to a private tender directed to the big pharma companies. The impact of our project is profound, given the fact that it will help millions of people to have a solution for a disease (each year about half a million new TNBC are diagnosed). More than the financial profit side of it, it is the social impact to be put in place that will enhance life of many.