TARGET-ED: Tumor Assisted Rational Genetically Engineered Therapeutics-Extracellular Vesicle DeliveryIn all living cells, extracellular vesicles (EVs) are naturally produced. Drs. Kevin Cassady and Uksha Saini have developed a streamlined approach to utilize these EVs to deliver biologics and clinical drug treatments that permit repeated treatments without the possibility of limiting therapeutic delivery due to the natural immune response. This method produces an immune inert drug delivery system that, unless the EVs are designed to encode immunostimulatory molecules, should not invoke an immune response. Our preliminary studies show that we can load extracellular vesicles (EVs) with a therapeutic payload of our choice. Retroviruses coopt and use much of the same pathways involved in cellular EV production for virus exit of the infected cell. We therefore hypothesized that Lentiviruses (a non-replicating retrovirus commonly used in the lab for gene expression) would provide a modifiable platform to generate therapeutic gene products that that would be preferentially transported and packaged into cellular EVs. This platform could then be modified and developed as a potential therapeutic delivery platform. Benefits: A major advantage of the approach is that the Tumor-Assisted Rational genetic encoded EV Therapeutics (TARGET EVs) are not seen as foreign and would be relatively immune inert (unless we load it with immune active molecules). Using this platform, we can: 1.Purify EVs 2. Load them with a payload using our proprietary constructs 3. Deliver EV to the tumor allowing either systemic delivery and they are picked up by the tumor or we directly inject a tumor and it redistributes to other tumors Data has show that DID labeled TARGET EVs re-distribute to the contralateral tumor that was not injected and suggests that the EVs prefer other tumor cells suggesting specificity. 4. Studies evaluating TARGET EVs are currently in progress, but we anticipate that these therapeutic EVs will improve anti-tumor activity and can be used repeatedly as they are immune inert. Stage of Development Proof of principle/prototype and now entering pre-clinical testing. Opportunity/Seeking:
IP Status: Patent application submitted |
Tech ID2020-100 College(None) Licensing ManagerInventorsCategoriesExternal Links |
