Jul 12, 2023

News Provided By Share This Article Novel nanotechnology uses natural lipid-based particles to selectively target cancer cells and harness the human body for targeted immune therapy CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, July 12, 2023/ EINPresswire.com / -- Nanogenix™, a new biotechnology company launched July 1st out of University Health Network’s (UHN) new ventures pipeline, aims to initiate clinical trials for its novel photo-immune therapy platform to change treatment prospects for cancer patients. UHN is Canada’s leading research hospital and Canada’s medical research commercialization leader. The company’s development was also supported by the Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP). The company’s new class of drug and device combination platform is based on porphysome technology developed by Dr. Gang Zheng, Senior Scientist and Associate Research Director, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre at UHN. Dr. Zheng is also the Scientific Co-Founder at Nanogenix, together with Dr. Brian Wilson, and Michael Valic, both researchers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Their research focus lies in the development of novel technologies and methods that can be applied to cancer detection/diagnosis, cancer treatment, and image-guided cancer interventions. With an initial focus on skin and pancreatic cancers, the company’s proprietary multifunction platform includes direct therapeutic, diagnostic imaging and drug delivery agents. The technology is based on naturally occurring lipid-based particles (porphysomes) which, when modified, can selectively target cancer cells while preserving normal tissue. The company is targeting mid-late 2024 to initiate Phase I clinical trials of its lead cancer therapeutic. “Nanogenix’s platform uses unique porphysome based nanoparticles to destroy tumour tissue without damaging normal tissue in cancer patients who could otherwise be facing more aggressive treatment options or who may have limited options. We are particularly impressed with recent preclinical findings that this therapy also induces a positive immune response that could synergistically impact the anti-cancer effect. The nanoparticles we’ve developed the Nanogenix platform around are also uniquely flexible to meet a particular clinical need,” says Zheng. “Nanogenix offers a multifunction platform designed to increase quality of life and survival rates in pancreatic cancer. Poised to be less invasive than currently available therapies, the platform already demonstrates significant advancements in cancer cell selectivity and immune response relative to existing therapies in the target disease categories.” says Glenn Kutschera, President and CEO, Nanogenix. “Also, in light of recent preclinical findings, we are very excited about the potential synergies porphysome therapy may have with other immune-oncology agents across multiple indications. We are very impressed with our combined preclinical results to date, and look forward to initiating our phase I clinical trials.” “Congratulations to Nanogenix on their company launch to scale novel nanotechnology therapies invented and de-risked at our Princess Margaret Cancer Centre,” said Mark Taylor, Director, Commercialization, University Health Network. “The new venture model at UHN keeps our patients at the centre and we are thrilled to see this technology taking the next step forward towards having widespread impact on patient lives globally. We are also thrilled that Nanogenix will have a research and development base right here in Toronto, where proximity to our world class research and vibrant life sciences ecosystem creates new opportunities for collaboration that keeps companies in Canada.” “The Nanogenix company launch is very good news as it marks a significant inflection point for the technology. TIAP is excited to continue to support the Nanogenix platform through our Venture Builder Program. This is a prime example of what can be achieved through the combination of stellar research and productive partnering with our members, in this case UHN. We appreciate the financial support provided to projects in our Venture Builder program by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario),” says Parimal Nathwani, President & CEO of TIAP. Nanogenix is now in the process of raising Series A financing in order to advance its platform into human clinical trials. The Nanogenix team is grateful for research and development support via UHN’s Innovation Acceleration Fund, supported by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, which has helped advance the development of its therapeutic platform. About the Nanogenix Management Team: Glenn Kutschera, Chief Executive Officer Glenn has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently 9 years as President of a US based oncology biotechnology company. Paul Sieroslawski, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer Paul has over 25 years of experience in financial management, most recently 11 years leading finance and operations at a US based oncology biotechnology company. Working together at a US based biotech company, Paul and Glenn have led multiple clinical programs ranging from preclinical to early stage and phase III trials within oncology. They were instrumental in gaining FDA approval of 6 newly developed PMA/Class III level medical devices, quadrupling the volume of oncology institutions using the company’s FDA approved cancer therapeutic and re-designing and streamlining a complex, multi-faceted cGMP manufacturing process. Paul Sieroslawski