Theralase Technologies Inc (TSX-V:TLT, OTCQB:TLTFF) announced that its lead drug formulation Rutherrin has been shown to provide a “significant” enhancement to the efficacy of cancer therapy Cisplatin in chemotherapy-resistant non-small cell lung cancer in a preclinical animal model.
The company said that in a study using the Lewis Lung Cancer model, mice treated with a combination of Cisplatin and Rutherrin experienced a significantly higher survival rate compared to those treated with Cisplatin alone.
This improvement in survival, equivalent to one year in human terms, is notable given the aggressive nature of the lung cancer model used, Theralase highlighted.
The company believes these preclinical results could be further improved by adding radiation or the diabetes drug Metformin to activate Rutherrin.
"This latest research is extremely important to the clinical community, as pending regulatory approval, it provides an opportunity on how to treat their patient base, who have developed chemotherapeutic resistance to Cisplatin,” Theralase CEO Roger DuMoulin-White commented.
“Pending sufficient capitalization and completion of a Good Laboratory Practice toxicology analysis for Rutherrin, Theralase plans to commence clinical studies for brain cancer, lung cancer and various blood-based cancers in 2025. If proven safe and effective in humans, Theralase hopes to change the paradigm of how patients diagnosed with cancer are treated in the future.”
Dr Arkady Mandel, Theralase chief scientific officer, added that the results suggest a new direction for the company in future drug development to help overcome chemoresistance, a major clinical challenge in cancer therapy.
"Cisplatin-based therapy is one of the most important and highly prescribed chemotherapy treatments for cancer; however, its efficacy is severely limited by chemotherapy drug resistance, as over time its efficacy decreases,” Mandel said.
“Upon clinical development and commercialization, this preclinical data is very important to the clinical community in the treatment of their lung cancer patients, as it demonstrates how their patients, who do develop chemotherapy resistance, can be treated more effectively with a combination drug therapy, such as Cisplatin and Rutherrin.”