Munich scientists seek collaboration for DNA cancer therapy

Partnership Opportunity

Scientists from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen are looking for partnership to develop their DNA based cancer therapy research.

The researches from Munich have for the first time, analyzed the dynamics of three targeted synthetic viruses in living cells.  According to their research paper, their analyses have led to a better understanding of the interaction of synthetic vectors with receptors on the surface of tumor cells.  Through the use of microscopic imaging, the research revealed that the vector recognized the “Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor” (EGFR), which can be found in many human tumour cells.  The molecule facilitated the uptake of the synthetic viruses, representing an important potential improvement of efficiency in therapy.

“Developing targeted, macromolecular carries, mainly for nucleic acid delivery, is a key part of our research. We have a tool-box like approach, which allows targeted delivery of nucleic acids to different cellular receptors,” said Dr. Manfred Ogris from the University’s centre for drug research, “The EGF-receptor targeted delivery of plasmid DNA, but also RNA strongly improves tumor specific delivery to EGF-receptor over-expressing tumors.”

Regarding partnership, Ogris said, “Collaboration projects with academia, but also the pharmaceutical industry are ongoing in related fields. The type of interaction is often on a cooperation basis, i.e. research projects are co-financed by industrial partners (personnel, like PostDocs or PhD students, and consumables), and the distribution of patent rights or licencing etc is negotiated individually for such projects.”  He added that the amount of investment needed would depend on the project, but “the time scale for such collaborative projects are usually in the range of a few years.”

Gene therapies are used to combat cancers caused by genetic abnormalities which prevent genes from functioning normally. Gene therapies use viruses to import healthy genetic material back into the cells to replace the defective ones.  Synthetic viruses are used because they have fewer side effects and can be custom-made to bind only to affected cells, by-passing normal, healthy areas.