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Jussi Halleen, CEOWhy the high failure rates in oncology clinical trials? Most cancer deaths are caused by metastases, and in many major cancers such as breast, prostate and lung cancer by bone metastases. Metastatic micro environment changes tumor properties and induces drug resistance. As a result of the drug resistance, bone metastases are incurable, despite the exponential progress in oncologic drug development. Over the years, preclinical testing for cancer drug efficacy has involved models wherein cancer cells or patient-derived tumors are injected into mice subcutaneously. Although this may seem simple and economical, the accuracy of clinical prediction is significantly low, owing to the difference in behavioral properties of tumor cells in the artificial subcutaneous microenvironment as compared to in the natural tumor microenvironment. While a certain drug combination may prove effective for a subcutaneous mouse model, the effect may vary in a real-life situation.
Pharmatest has been the global leading provider of bone metastasis models for more than 10 years. With a keen eye on the future, Halleen highlights that the R&D team at Pharmatest is focused on developing humanized mouse models of bone metastasis to be used for confirming efficacy of immunotherapies in bone microenvironment. On the geographical front, the company is expanding its reach in the U.S., with offices in Boston and California. The long-term goal is to have research laboratories in the U.S. and grow stronger in the global markets.
We strive to contribute to increase the life expectancy of cancer patients and improve the quality of their lives
Halleen further highlights that with its strong expertise in bone and oncology research, Pharmatest can help the pharmaceutical industry to decrease the high failure rates in clinical trials. Especially in oncology this will lead to massive cost savings for the pharmaceutical industry, faster entrance of truly effective new therapies to the market, and most of all increased life expectancy and quality of life for patients with metastases. While these factors will make a difference in the drug testing outcomes, Halleen emphasizes the importance of confirming compound efficacy in relevant preclinical metastasis models before entering clinical trials. With service providers developing preclinical metastasis models that can be used by the pharmaceutical companies to develop oncology drugs, Halleen believes that this evolution heralds a paradigm shift in the industry.
Company
Pharmatest Services
Management
Jussi Halleen, CEO
Description
A contract research organization that offers clinically predictive preclinical efficacy services in oncology and skeletal diseases
We had an honour to host a face-to-face meeting of the consortium in Turku, Finland. The meeting was full of insightful conversations and planning the next steps in our exciting project.
The Multiple Myeloma Challenge
Multiple myeloma is a malignant form of cancer that annually affects approximately 50,000 individuals in Europe, with the majority of cases occurring in those over the age of 65. Despite significant therapeutic advances and the introduction of innovative treatment options in the earlier stages of the disease, multiple myeloma continues to be incurable with a 5-year survival rate slightly above 50%. While patients are now able to live longer with the disease and survival rates are increasing, relapse remains an inevitable part of the disease.
NK-ENGAGE Research Consortium
The NK-ENGAGE research consortium comprises of esteemed institutions and well-known biotech companies including Oncopeptides, Sweden and their collaborator the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Oslo University Hospital, Norway, and Pharmatest Services, Finland. The main goals of the NK-ENGAGE project are the development of a novel synthetic small polypeptide for NK cell based immunotherapy and the development of new pre-clinical models of MM that will allow both efficacy studies as well as deep mechanistic understanding of the developed compounds.