Date: 2016-01-05
Type of information: Initiation of preclinical development
phase: preclinical
Announcement: initiation of preclinical development
Company: Nanobiotix (France)
Product: NBTXR3
Action
mechanism: nanoparticle. NBTXR3 is a nanoparticle consisting of hafnium oxide crystals and it is intended to enhance the local destruction of the tumor mass during radiotherapy. Once injected into the tumor, NBTXR3 accumulates in the cancer cells. Due to the physical properties of hafnium oxide, the particles emit huge amounts of electrons upon radiation. This leads to the formation of radicals within the tumor cell, which in turn damage the cancer cells and cause their targeted destruction. NBTXR3 particles are inert and emit electrons only during their exposure to radiotherapy. As a result, the destructive power of standard radiation therapy could be locally and selectively enhanced within the tumor cells. Nanobiotix is running a global clinical development program with its lead product NBTXR3, in six indications across Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific Region: a registration trial in soft tissue sarcoma, and Phase I/II trials in liver cancers (HCC and liver metastases), prostate cancer, head and neck cancer and rectal cancer (in Asia by Nanobiotix’s partner PharmaEngine).
Disease:
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Country:
Trial details:
Latest
news: * On January 5, 2016, Nanobiotix announced that, in addition to its current advanced clinical development program, the Company has started exploring the use of NBTXR3 for combination in immuno-oncology. The aim of immuno-oncology (IO) is to boost patients’ immune systems to fight cancer, through different approaches. It is very efficient for a limited number of patients whose tumors have natural and sufficient immunogenicity. However, to exploit the full potential of immune therapies it is necessary to increase this immunogenicity at tumor level. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that radiotherapy can be used to improve immunogenicity, by creating Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD) in many situations. NBTXR3 nanoparticles’ activation enhances the energy deposited where they are injected, improving the cancer cell death and efficacy of radiotherapy. This technology is based on physics and can potentially be applied across all radiotherapy indications. All preclinical model have shown a systematic superiority of cell killing, when using NBTXR3 with radiotherapy, compared to radiotherapy alone. Hence, NBTXR3 could have the potential to be used as an in situ (intratumoral) vaccination that would create ICDs which, in turn, could bring a new dimension and broaden the usage of immuno therapies in oncology. To explore this brand new field of development opportunities, the Company has launched a pre-clinical development program.
