Immuno-oncology company Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) has entered into a strategic research collaboration with clinical-stage biopharmaceutical RenovoRx, Inc, to combine IMU’s oncolytic virus therapy with RenovoRx’s TAMP (Trans-Arterial Micro-Perfusion) therapy platform for the treatment of difficult-to-access tumours.
“Our collaboration with Imugene is an important milestone for RenovoRx as we expand our pipeline from exclusively treating locally advanced disease to treating metastatic disease with immunotherapy,” RenovoRx CEO Shaun Bagai said.
“We look forward to combining our proprietary TAMP platform with Imugene’s CF33 oncolytic virus with the goal of optimising clinical benefits for patients.”
Difficult-to-access tumours
The two companies intend to investigate the effect of administering IMU’s CF33 oncolytic virus technology with RenovoRx’s TAMP therapy platform.
Imugene believes the combination of technologies may offer greater efficacy in treating difficult-to-access tumours, such as pancreatic and liver cancers, by delivering CF33 trans-arterially.
Traditional administration methods are inadequate in the face of dense fibrous tissue and a lack of blood vessels supplying the tumours, which have been shown to limit therapy uptake.
“We believe the synergy between RenovoRx’s trans-arterial drug delivery system and our CF33 oncolytic virus platform has the potential to facilitate treatment of difficult-to-access cancers and help patients,” Imugene managing director and CEO Leslie Chong said.
In a study presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology 2019 Annual Meeting, the TAMP platform demonstrated a 100-fold (two orders of magnitude) increase in local tissue concentration with TAMP compared to conventional IV delivery as well as advantages compared to off-the-shelf intra-arterial (IA) delivery.
RenovoRx won the Drug Delivery Technology category of the Fierce Innovation Awards – Life Sciences Edition 2020 for its TAMP therapy platform technology.
The collaboration will be funded from existing budgets and resources for a term of up to four months with the intent to expand the partnership should it be successful.