Synthesis and evaluation of Antibody conjugated to cyclical peptide toxin drug for the treatment of multi-drug resistant cancer cells

Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC) are an emerging class of drugs that combine antibodies and a drug payload. The antibody cargoes the drug payload to specific targeted cells improving both safety and efficacy. To date that are 8 FDA approved ADC drugs all for oncology application using small molecule drugs. Although these ADCs with small molecules encompass superior efficacy and safety than non-targeted small molecule drugs, it is increasingly evident that they lose efficacy due to the same multi-drug resistance by the cancer cells. In this project, we are exploring the synthesis and evaluation of larger molecule cyclical peptide toxin drugs that cancer cells find more challenging to develop resistance to. Traditionally, these cyclical peptide toxins are rarely used for oncology application due to a variety of systemic toxicity; however, by utilizing the ADC platform, this new class of toxins may be an important class of anti-cancer drug class to unlock.

Faculty Supervisor:

David Perin

Student:

Benjamin Noichl

Partner:

iProgen Biotech Inc

Discipline:

Chemistry

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of British Columbia