Source: www.drbicuspid.com
Author: DrBicuspid Staff

Preclinical studies have shown that the NanoSmart drug-delivery system from Aura Biosciences can enable earlier detection of head and neck and other cancers, and provide precisely targeted treatment of those cancers, according to the company.

Aura Biosciences has raised an additional $4.5 million from private investors to advance this research and has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Institutes of Health to further develop and eventually commercialize the technology.

“Malignant tumors of epithelial tissues are the most common form of cancer and are responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Mortality is linked increasingly to early metastasis, which is often undetected at the time of primary diagnosis,” stated Elisabet de los Pinos, PhD, founder and CEO of Aura Biosciences, in a press release. “The development of a real-time detection system that is sensitive and specific for epithelial tumors, and that can further enable a targeted treatment to distant metastases, could lead to major improvements in efficacy and survival rates.”

NanoSmart utilizes nanosphere particles (NSPs) that have a selective tropism for epithelial-derived tumor cells. With NanoSmart, fluorescing molecules are encapsulated into these NSPs, which then selectively target diseased tissue, penetrate the cancerous cells, and release a fluorescent signal that can be visualized in real-time with existing medical imaging equipment. The same NSP vehicle can also be loaded with a chemotherapeutic drug to deliver a lethal dose directly to the tumor cancer cells, ostensibly increasing the drug’s efficacy while greatly reducing toxic side effects, according to the company.

Aura Biosciences has completed proof of principle studies and says it has obtained “outstanding results” with the topical delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) for the treatment of cancers related to human papillomavirus (HPV), showing 90% silencing of the target gene in vivo. These data suggest immediate relevance in treating early-stage HPV-related tumors, such as anal and cervical dysplasia, head and neck cancers, and nonmelanoma skin cancer, according to the company.