cancer diagnosis & therapy - Isis Project No 2945

New molecular imaging agents for diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases.

Marketing Opportunity

Medical imaging techniques are important diagnostic tools in the fight against cancer. State of the art imaging equipment is used to track the bio-distribution and uptake of chemical imaging agents. At present, these agents must incorporate radioactive atoms, making them costly to prepare and requiring expensive diagnostic equipment. In the future, cancer diagnosis and therapy will be achieved using ‘molecular imaging agents’ that do not include radioactive ‘tags’. These agents will benefit patients by:

• Enhancing diagnostic clarity and reducing misdiagnoses by selectively targeting diseased tissues;
• Reducing the side effects associated with radioactive treatment regimes;
• Enabling determination of optimal dosing levels, which reduces side effects.

The Oxford Invention

The preparation of a new series of molecular imaging agents is the subject of this Oxford invention.  [Image prepared for a forthcoming issue of Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.]

The Oxford Agents	Advantages
Do not require radioactive ‘tags’ to enable diagnosis	Reduced side effects; Benefits over conventional radiotherapy treatments, which cannot discriminate between healthy and diseased tissues
Are selective towards tissues with low oxygen concentrations (e.g cancerous tumours)
Can be tuned to enable delivery to specific biological sites (e.g. by attachment of monoclonal antibodies)
Can be tracked using optical (fluorescent) probes	Diagnostic equipment costs are greatly reduced
Radionuclides can be incorporated to enable PET imaging	PET scanners are widely available; Diagnostic clarity is enhanced by the Oxford imaging agents
Have dual imaging and therapeutic applications	Enables tracking of disease progression during treatment
Are biocompatible, stable and highly soluble in biological media	Facilitates delivery to diseased tissues (e.g. intravenously).

Patent Status

The technology is the subject of a UK patent application and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents. Please contact the Isis Project Manager to discuss this further.

Keywords

Molecular imaging, optical imaging, fluorescence imaging, cancer diagnosis, cancer therapy, radiopharmaceutical

Request Further Information: Project Number 2945 Cancer Diagnosis & Therapy