Pancreatic-cancer treatment from Lykera, ready for regulatory preclinical phase
This biotechnology firm, based in Terrassa (Barcelona), is developing biological products to treat cancer not only in tumor cells but also in stromal cells and tumor angiogenesis.
By Biocat
Lykera Biomed presented the results of their preclinical studies in animal models on a treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer (LK-1) at the BIO-Europe Spring 2013 congress and the Annual Next Generation Antibody Discovery & Development Forum, held this March in Barcelona. The next step will be to plan the regulatory preclinical phase and begin clinical trials.
Lykera Biomed has a pipeline with various monoclonal antibodies, which have already shown to be effective antitumor drugs in preclinical research. According to the company, led by Dr. Francesc Mitjans, the competitive advantage of these antibodies is their triple action in blocking cancer growth, with a combined attack on the tumor itself, the tumor’s vascular network (tumor angiogenesis) and the support tissue (tumor stromal cells).
In collaboration with other research centers, Lykera has developed a peptide that can guide therapeutic compounds, like chemotherapy, towards the tumor area, thus reducing the side effects.
In the field of diagnostics, this Catalan biotechnology firm is developing tools to detect biomarkers using blood or urine analysis that allow doctors to monitor a disease and screen patients before proceeding to therapy, one more step towards personalized medicine.