Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

July 22, 2022

Artizan to collaborate with European researchers on cancer therapy

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Dr. Bridget Martell
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

New Haven-based biotech Artizan Biosciences, Inc. announced this week it has entered into a multi-year research collaboration to explore the potential role of gut microbiota in therapies for cancer patients.

The collaboration is with the University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands and Spain-based biotech Microviable Therapeutics.

Researchers will explore the relationship between gut microbiota (all the microbes living in one’s digestive system) and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies for cancer patients.

Dr. Bridget Martell, Artizan’s president and CEO, said the collaboration has the potential to further expand its oncology pipeline.

“As published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately 43.6% of U.S. patients with cancer are eligible for ICI therapy, yet only 12.5% of treated patients respond to it,” Martell said, in an announcement. “We look forward to working with UMC Utrecht and Microviable to identify potential solutions that can improve patient outcomes and reduce the side effects of ICI treatment.”

Artizan is creating gut exclusive microbial metalloprotease inhibitors (GEMMi), therapeutics which disrupt triggers of chronic inflammatory disease.

Through the collaboration, researchers will investigate factors which impact ICI therapeutic response and side effects. They will analyze samples from more than 200 cancer patients taken before and during ICI therapy, including patients who experienced intestinal immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

Marcel de Zoete, co-founder of Artizan and an associate professor of microbiome research at the Department of Medical Microbiology at the UMC Utrecht, noted that in up to 56% of irAE cases in ICI treated patients, “symptoms present in the intestinal tract as moderate to severe intestinal inflammation, resembling what is seen in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.” 

“Recent data show a clear correlation between ICI induced irAEs severity and overall cancer survival,” de Zoete said, in an announcement. “The key challenge is how to maximize ICI therapy effectiveness while minimizing irAEs.”

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF