A new technology that may be effective against breast tumors has been licensed from UCSF to biotechnology and pharmaceutical company partners. The immunoliposome technology targets malignant cells directly and could boost the effectiveness of cancer treatment.
Researchers at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center and Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) have developed an immunoliposome: a biological agent that can deliver a powerful, targeted dose of drug therapy directly to malignant cells. The immunoliposome combines liposomes – synthetic particles that carry potent anti-cancer drugs – with antibodies that can recognize and enter cancer cells so that drugs are directly delivered to the interior of the targeted cells.
ALZA Corporation has entered into an exclusive licensing and development agreement with Hermes Biosciences, Inc. regarding a use of the targeting aspect of this technology. Hermes is a biotechnology corporation created by the UCSF investigators who developed the licensed immunoliposome technology and who remain principals in the company. ALZA, of Mountain View, California, will develop this new targeting technology in conjunction with its own STEALTH ® liposome technology.
This agreement enables promising technology developed at UCSF to be further developed in partnership with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, according to John W. Park, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center and the licensed technology’s principal investigator. “In addition to its promise as a new form of cancer treatment, we are hopeful that this work will also provide a model for successful collaboration involving academic institutions, and private industry to help develop new treatments for patients with cancer,� said Park.
The combination of a liposome with an antibody is “an exciting development in the use of antibodies, and provides a general approach to targeting other proteins on cancer cells,� said James D. Marks, MD, PhD, UCSF professor of anesthesiology. Marks discovered the antibody used in the agent.
“The technology is a powerful way to deliver drugs directly to their targets, which may improve both the effectiveness and tolerability of cancer treatment,� said Christopher C. Benz, MD, program director at the Buck Institute for Age Research (Novato, CA) as well as UCSF adjunct professor and original project leader.
Immunoliposomes can be regarded as a promising dimension in the use of liposomes, and their use builds on the pioneering studies of the Liposome Research Laboratory, a longtime UCSF affiliate that is currently based at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. In addition to Park, Benz, and Marks, Liposome Research Laboratory investigators Keelung Hong, PhD, Dmitri B. Kirpotin, PhD, and the late Demetrios Papahadjopoulos, PhD were also instrumental in developing this technology as part of the UCSF SPORE.
In search of breakthrough cancer treatments, the NCI SPORE has sponsored UCSF research in breast cancer translational research since 1992. The UCSF Breast Cancer SPORE is directed by Joe Gray, PhD, UCSF professor of laboratory medicine. Translational research of this nature – bringing scientific discoveries expeditiously to patient-care settings – is the overriding goal of the SPORE program. The NCI Developmental Therapeutics Program also provided key assistance in the initial manufacturing of the agent.