A Multifunctional Immuno-therapy Nanoparticle

Multifunctional Drug and Immune Modulator Delivery Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Cancer Patients with Comorbid Atherosclerosis

Application

A multifunctional immuno-therapy nanoparticle (PD1Y-HANP/Avasimbe) that has ability of targeting and inhibiting immune checkpoint PDL-1 while producing therapeutic effects on tumors and atherosclerosis.

Key Benefits

Multifunctional immunotherapy for cancer patients with atherosclerosis.
Shown to inhibit tumor growth and prevention of tumor recurrence.
Shown to inhibit the progression of atherosclerotic plaques.

Market Summary

There is a close association between cancer and atherosclerosis, and patients with atherosclerosis have two-fold higher cancer incidence. There is a current unmet need for a treatment for cancer patients that have atherosclerosis as a co-morbidity or develop atherosclerosis as a side-effect of chemotherapy. Current cancer immunotherapy using immune checkpoint blockade antibodies has been shown to induce systemic immune related side effects that promote the progression of atherosclerosis.

Technical Summary

Researchers at Emory have developed a new immunotherapy approach to target cancer using a biocompatible and biodegradable hyaluronic acid nanoparticle agent (HANP) with designs to both enhance the therapeutic response to cancer while at the same time producing therapeutic benefit in cardiovascular diseases and reduce systemic adverse effect. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an anti-fouling matrix biomaterial that has unique biophysical properties of viscoelasticity and specific CD44 binding that facilitates HANP/drug delivery into tumors. By conjugating PD-L1 blocking peptides to HANPs encapsulated with Avasimibe (Ava) researchers were able to develop multifunctional immunotherapy nanoparticle that being PD1Y-HANP/Ava. Avasimibe decreases intracellular cholesterol by inhibiting acyl-Coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase.