(Credit: Associated Press)
Scientists at Invictus Oncology Pvt. Ltd. have utilized a novel linker chemistry to generate antibody-drug conjugates which act like “magic bullets,” a concept proposed by Nobel laureate, Paul Ehrlich. The technology can provide a targeted therapy to cancer patients whereby the antibody can home into specific markers or “addresses” expressed by cancer cells to deliver extremely toxic drugs.
The major challenge in the field has been to define an optimal linker chemistry that prevents the drug from breaking off from the antibody in the bloodstream but releases the drug once it reaches the tumor.
The linker chemistry developed by Invictus team enables the combination of biologically active anti-cancer drugs and tumor-targeting antibodies, providing a sensitive distinction between normal and tumor cells. Utilizing the novel technology, the therapy minimizes side effects and maximizes antitumor efficacy.
The lead author of the paper, which was published in the March 2017 issue of Chemical Science (Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 2387-2395), is Nimish Gupta, Scientist II at Invictus Oncology. The paper’s senior authors are Monideepa Roy, Director-R&D, Invictus Oncology and Shiladitya Sengupta, Faculty Member at Harvard Medical School and Co-founder of Invictus.
Invictus Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company based in Delhi, India focused on the development of novel therapeutics for cancer treatment. It was co-founded by Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Shiladitya Sengupta and Padma Vibhushan Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar.
(Source: PR Newswire)
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
