Sona Nanotech Inc (CSE:SONA, OTCQB:SNANF) said it has received ethics committee approval to begin enrolling patients in an early feasibility study for its Targeted Hyperthermia Therapy (THT), a novel cancer treatment that uses the company’s gold nanorod technology.
The Halifax-based company said the trial will focus on patients with late-stage melanoma who have not responded to standard immunotherapy treatments.
The study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of Sona’s THT approach, which uses gold nanorods to selectively heat and damage cancerous cells.
"This ethics committee approval gives us the green light we've been waiting for to begin enrolling patients suffering from late-stage melanoma, for whom no other therapy has worked, to participate in our first-in-human clinical trial,” CEO David Regan told shareholders in a statement.
“Our clinical trial partner will now begin enrolling patients, and we will advise when a first dosing of our THT treatment has occurred.”
Participants in the trial will receive two treatments of THT one week apart. The study is expected to run over the summer, with a preliminary readout of results anticipated by September, depending on how quickly patients are enrolled.
Sona’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Carman Giacomantonio, will provide clinical training and oversee the initial application of the treatment.
The company’s THT platform represents a novel use of nanotechnology in oncology, leveraging the heat-generating properties of gold nanorods to target tumors without damaging surrounding tissue.