Cancer remains the leading cause of death in France and is responsible for close to 150,000 deaths each year*. While many forms of cancer can now be treated, pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest, with a 75% mortality rate within the first year and only a 6% 5-year survival rate*. Almost 12,000 individuals are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year in France. This cancer is expected to become the 2nd cause of cancer death by 2030*. Pancreatic cancer affects both men and women over 50 years of age and is particularly difficult to treat.
Why? Observable only when the tumour has sufficiently grown outside the pancreas, symptoms are detected very late, when cancer cells have already proliferated widely and metastases are ingrown. Only 20% of patients are diagnosed early enough to be treated in time.
Engaged in this real public health problem, VECT-HORUS, a biotechnology company specializing in vectorization of molecules, embarked in the fight to increase the survival rate of patients with pancreatic cancer.
VECTrans®, VECT-HORUS REVOLUTIONARY NEW TECHNOLOGY BRINGS HOPE
Identified by CNRS as one of the 15 medical research success stories out of one thousand companies spun-off from CNRS laboratories, VECT-HORUS has developed a highly innovative technology, unique in Europe and rare across the world.
Initially designed to enhance the transport across the blood brain barrier, its VECTrans® technology promotes the delivery of drugs through vectors targeting specific receptors, including cholesterol receptors found on the BBB. Very quickly, this new technology proved to be also effective in targeting certain tumours particularly resistant tumours overexpressing the cholesterol receptor. This is the case for the pancreas where the number of cholesterol receptors increases significantly in tumour cells invading the organ. VECT-HORUS has developed a program to vectorise imaging agents and anti-cancer agents (e.g. gemcitabine, GEMZAR®) to target the pancreatic tumour, thereby detecting (imaging) and better treating the tumour. Vectors developed by VECT-HORUS accumulate 40 times more in pancreatic tumours than in the healthy pancreatic tissue. This technology allows better targeting of the tumour cells and limits their outgrowth while minimizing toxicity for healthy cells, one of the major side effects of conventional cancer treatments.
Nowadays, most of the pancreatic cancer treatments remain ineffective. Vectorising molecules capable of targeting specific receptors (RMT technique: receptor-mediated transport) in pathological organs is considered the most promising and safest strategy.
For Alexandre Tokay, CEO of VECT-HORUS, Dr Jamal Temsamani, Director of Research and Development and Dr Michel Khrestchatisky, Director of Research at CNRS and Scientific Council at VECT-HORUS specializing in neurobiology, gemcitabine vectorization is a very promising approach to fight pancreatic cancer.
Promising results have already received the support of the « Conseil Régional de la Région PACA » (Regional Council of the PACA Region), the public investment bank (BPI France) and DIRECCTE under the PRI (« Partenariat Régional d’Innovation », Regional Innovation Partnership) tender.
The grant is a first step that will help to demonstrate the effectiveness of vectorised gemcitabine.
About VECT-HORUS:
Founded in Marseille in 2005 by Alexandre TOKAY, CEO, and Dr Michel KHRESTCHATISKY, Scientific Council, the French start-up company VECT-HORUS (spin-off of CNRS UMR7259 - Aix Marseille University headed by Dr Michel KHRESTCHATISKY) designs and develops vectors to facilitate addressing imaging or therapeutic agents to target organs. By combining agents to its vectors developed to specifically target various receptors, VECT-HORUS technology allows these agents to more easily reach their target: brain, organ, tissue, tumour, etc. Vectors developed by VECT-HORUS are protected by several families of pending or issued patents. The company recently joined the BPI France Excellence community and signed research collaboration partnerships with major French pharmaceutical companies. VECT-HORUS participates in the program DHUNE (www.dhune.org), a multidisciplinary university hospital federation which received the label of national and international centre of excellence for neurodegenerative diseases with the goal of achieving significant advances for these diseases within the next 5 years. The company currently employs eighteen collaborators, mainly in R&D, including Dr Jamal TEMSAMANI, Director of Research & Development. For more information, please visit www.VECT-Horus.com