AmacaThera, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing advanced injectable biomaterials for local, sustained delivery of oncology and pain therapeutics, has received grant funding from the Innovations for Vets QuickFire Challenge: Lung Cancer & Physical Trauma.
The program, launched by Johnson & Johnson Innovation- JLABS (JLABS) with the Johnson & Johnson Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, was created with the goal of advancing technologies that benefit veterans.
According to research published in Healthcare, veterans are disproportionately impacted by certain diseases, with a higher prevalence of risk factors for chronic health conditions relative to non-Veterans. The program sought potentially ground-breaking technologies to directly address the unique needs of the military community, particularly in lung cancer and physical trauma. Military service members, for example, are also 25 percent more likely to receive a lung cancer diagnosis.
With the QuickFire Challenge funding, AmacaThera will partner with another biotech company to collaborate on visualizing and sampling lung tumors. Through the partnership, the companies will explore AmacaThera’s hydrogel technology for the delivery of therapeutics to these hard-to-reach locations.
AmacaThera’s hydrogel technology was specifically designed with the aim to transform therapeutics for treatment of tumours, such as lung cancer, which cannot be removed due to their location, size, or potential to spread. This approach has the potential to treat unresectable lung cancers and other solid tumours that require a local approach to drug delivery.
“We founded AmacaThera to revolutionize the range of treatment options available to patients using a range of therapeutic agents, such as small molecules, antibodies, proteins or peptides,” says Dr. Michael J. Cooke, CEO and co-founder of AmacaThera. “We’re honoured to be among the companies selected to participate in this program, and excited to form new collaborations.”
Molly Shoichet, co-Founder and CSO, added, “Our unique, responsive hydrogel strategy enables us to achieve success in this innovative approach to lung cancer treatment.”
About AmacaThera
AmacaThera is a clinical-stage biotechnology company transforming therapeutics to make a difference in patient health. Our unique, injectable hydrogel platform provides localized, sustained drug delivery to improve patient outcomes across multiple therapeutic areas, including post‑surgical pain management, cancer and other hard‑to‑reach target areas. To learn more, visit amacathera.ca.
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