A $1.5 million contract for the development of an investigative, monoclonal-antibody based PET radiotracer that can detect pancreatic cancer has been awarded to Telik, the Palo Alto-based pharmaceutical company announced today.
The contract is being funded by the National Cancer Institute and will bankroll a large part of the preclinical work being conducted by MabVax Therapeutics, which was merged with Telik in July. MabVax will also be working with researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to evaluate the PET agent and its ability to detect and monitor pancreatic cancer.
The monies will go specifically for the phase II piece of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the National Cancer Institute. The phase I research was completed this month.
"Receiving the $1.5 million grant for the second phase of the NCI's research contract to develop a PET imaging agent for pancreatic cancer solidifies the preeminent position that the antibody discovery and development program developed by MabVax plays in the post-merger company,” said J. David Hansen, chief executive officer of Telik, in a press release. “Given the inadequacy of early diagnostic screening techniques combined with typical late stage diagnosis, pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States. As such, new diagnostic tools specific to pancreatic cancer have the potential to address the clear need for earlier detection, as well as improving treatment regiments utilizing targeted therapies. Our radiolabeled 5B1 antibody represents the only human-derived agent in development specifically aimed at improving imaging in pancreatic cancer."
The agent is based on a carbohydrate antigen called sialyl-Lewis-a, which is over-expressed in both pancreatic and stomach cancer cells. The antigen aids the adhesion of tumors and the movement of tumor cells into other organs and tissues, which makes it an ideal target for a molecular imaging agent that can track metastases and recurrent cancer. Increased expression of this antigen has been correlated with pool outcomes. MabVax’s 5B1 antibody agent has affinity for sialyl-Lewis-a and was initially developed from a patient who had received a sialyl-Lewis-a anti-cancer vaccine.