UA Startup to Develop Tumor-Starving Cancer Treatment
Tucson, Ariz. – University of Arizona startup company Synactix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has licensed a novel cancer treatment technology developed through research at the UA College of Pharmacy. Arising out of studies focusing on highly targeted treatments, Synactix has zeroed in on a dual kinase inhibitor that blocks two factors involved in cancer survival: oncogene addiction and vascular growth. The inhibitor is able to simultaneously block the RET proto-oncogene and the VEGF receptor. When these signaling proteins are blocked, tumor growth as well as tumor vascularization is quickly halted.
In essence, the drug simultaneously starves and obstructs tumor growth by preventing blood vessel formation and oncogene signaling.
Under the leadership of Hong-yu Li, Ph.D., company president and professor in the UA College of Pharmacy, and Brendan Frett, Ph.D., vice president, 2014 graduate of the College and postdoctoral researcher in Li’s lab, the company is forming its management team and raising funds.
"We are very excited to be one step closer to providing this treatment to the patient-in-need," says Li. "We still have a formidable push to reach our research goals and UA has provided resources necessary to streamline development."
For Frett, the experience has served as a useful course in the business of pharmaceuticals.
“As I was finishing up my Ph.D., I was in the process of starting Synactix,” he says. “I have learned that science and business are very different but complimentary concepts, and it’s crucial to identify the interdependence between the two. We have a great opportunity to enhance treatments for human disease, and we are excited and enthusiastic for what the future holds.”
“The College of Pharmacy has a long history of entrepreneurial and spin-off companies, including Cylene, Niadyne and, of course, our highly successful SinfoníaRx,” says Dr. Lyle Bootman, dean of the UA College of Pharmacy. “This newest firm is another example of the strength of our faculty, not only as teachers and researchers, but as innovators dedicated to advancing science and technology to directly benefit patients. This is great example of how a university stimulates the economy in the state and the local region.”
To protect the invention and start the new company, Li and Frett worked with Tech Launch Arizona Assistant Director of Biomedical & Life Sciences Licensing Rakhi Gibbons and the entire team at Tech Launch Arizona, the office of the UA that commercializes the inventions emanating from research to create social and economic impact.
"This is a great example of the cutting edge research taking place at UA," says Gibbons, "and we are excited to have the opportunity to work with such individuals that endeavor to bring new treatments to patients."
The pathways of Synactix’s treatment play a key role in medullary thyroid cancer, which is an orphan disease – one that provides little incentive for the pharmaceutical industry due to a low market potential. The orphan indication will be used initially as an advantage to show safety and efficacy in clinical trials, with the intent to expand to other indications as positive results develop.
The treatment provides advantages over current therapies by targeting multiple, cooperating pathways. The drug was designed using medicinal chemistry polypharmacology (MCP), a concept to engineer drugs capable of simultaneously targeting multiple causes of a human disease.
This year, Synactix submitted an STTR grant for $299,976 to continue their research and develop their product. The grant has been selected for probable funding by the national cancer institute (NCI) and is currently under intent to award.
Synactix is in negotiations with investors to help fund an FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) package to complete its IND in the United States and open channels to international markets.