The Саnсеr Rеsеаrсh Institute of Tomsk National Research Medical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences has completed phase I of clinical trials of radiopharmaceutical containing technetium-99 (99Tc).
This drug most accurately identifies specific breast cancer that is sensitive only to certain types of treatment. The drug was developed by researchers of the TPU Oncotheranostics Research Center jointly with doctors of the Саnсеr Rеsеаrсh Institute. Phase I of the conducted clinical trials proved drug safety.
The upcoming phases of the clinical trials and studies will also be supported by the Priority 2030 program won by the university.
The drug is unique due to its structure. It contains scaffold protein and an isotope of 99Tc. The protein detects cancer cells and the isotope illuminates the precise location of diseased cells. The main works on drug development were conducted within a TPU mega-grant.
“We have successfully completed phase I out of three phases of clinical trials, in the course of which drug safety to diagnose breast cancer was proved. Moreover, during the trials we detected metastases even there where conventional methods of diagnostics were not able to detect them,” says Olga Bragina, Senior Research Fellow of the Саnсеr Rеsеаrсh Institute.
This drug reduces the time of medical examination of patients from several days to several hours as it detects a neoplasm faster.
“Our goal is to create a line of domestic highly effective drugs both for detection and treatment of cancer and implement them in a real life. The support of Priority 2030 allows us to go further. In particular, we are intending to modify the drug into a treatment drug. To achieve this goal, we will substitute the isotope of 99Tc with rhenium,” notes Mekhman Yusubov, TPU Professor and Head of the Healthcare Engineering Strategic Office.
“If we speak globally, then in nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals, the participation in Priority 2030 will provide us resources in order that we jointly with our partners united in the Healthcare Engineering consortium will be able to conduct an overall complex of biotechnological, pre-clinical and clinical trials of each developed drug. After obtaining a packet of these data and results, we will give technology to the industrial partners for large-scale production. In other words, the research which will be conducted within Priority 2030 will be that research that no one drug producer will be able to complete.”