The presented invention comprises a theragnostic system that includes a carrier nanoparticle, a therapeutic agent of choice, an anti-FOLH1 monoclonal antibody, and an imaging molecule. This invention aims to solve the toxicity problems generated by intravenous administration of cytotoxic drugs in prostate cancer treatment (chemotherapy). The main benefits of this system vs the current methods are: i) selective killing of cancer cells at the prostate gland and local lymph nodes; ii) lower dosage and toxicity, while having bigger therapeutic effect; iii) accurate cancer cell tracking in prostate gland and local lymph nodes by PET imaging. This nanoplatform is stable in physiological medium and also biodegradable.
The invention is currently in preclinical phase with good prognosis to advance into clinical phase I in 2021. The main inventor is Pablo Botella, whose research focuses around nanomedicines and new materials, he currently works at the Chemical Technology Institute (ITQ) in Valencia. This technology is protected with a patent filed in November 2019. The main goal of the organization is to license the technology to a commercial partner for its exploitation.
Institution: Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ)
TRL: 4-5
Protection status: Patent application
Contact: Vicente Barberá / vicente@viromii.com
