TAE Life Sciences to Launch Drug Delivery Program After $30-Million Investment

TAE Life Sciences (TLS), a biological-targeting radiation therapy company headquartered in Foothill Ranch, CA, announced on June 2, 2020 that it is launching an in-house boron delivery drug development program after receiving $30 million in funding from ARTIS Ventures.

According to a company press release, the investment will give the company the opportunity to accelerate the development of proprietary boron-10 target drugs while it develops its neutron beam accelerator technology for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), a particle therapy that targets cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

The program will work to improve the targeting of cancer cells, increase boron accumulation in target cells, lengthen boron retention time, and increase boron homogeneity, the press release said. TLS has also introduced a drug development facility in Santa Monica, CA, that features labs for cell biology and antibody production, medicinal chemistry, and molecular biology.

"Our research tells us that antibodies and antibody fragments are a natural fit for targeted delivery of boron to a multitude of tumor types,” said Kendall Morrison, chief scientific officer, TAE Life Sciences, in the press release. “Adapting our knowledge of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) should enable us to develop antibody boron conjugates (ABCTM) with significant amounts of boron attached. The boron-10 attached to ABCs will be non-toxic and safe to handle in contrast to the hazardous and costly cytotoxic molecules used in ADCs. We expect that these antibody boron conjugates, in addition to new boron-containing small molecules we are developing, will help improve tumor uptake and simplify manufacturing. This should result in even better BNCT outcomes and lead to a shorter and simpler path to the clinic.”

“For patients suffering from complex cancers, BNCT may offer a quicker, effective path to cancer cell destruction, with fewer side effects,” said Bruce Bauer, CEO of TAE Life Sciences, in the press release. “TLS’s goal is to continue to increase the efficacy of the combination while bringing costs down so that more clinicians, hospitals, and patients can access this treatment.”

Source: TLS