CRLX101 is an experimental approach to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

that is under investigation in human trials. It is an example of a

nanomedicine Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology, translating historic nanoscience insights and inventions into practical application. Nanomedicine ranges from the medical applications of nanomaterials and biological devices, to n ...

. The agent represents a nanoparticle conjugate that consists of a drug delivery

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...

, namely a

cyclodextrin Cyclodextrins are a family of cyclic oligosaccharides, consisting of a macrocycle, macrocyclic ring of glucose subunits joined by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Cyclodextrins are produced from starch by enzyme, enzymatic conversion. They are used in ...

-based

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

(CDP) and an anti-cancer compound (

camptothecin Camptothecin (CPT) is a topoisomerase inhibitor. It was discovered in 1966 by M. E. Wall and M. C. Wani in systematic screening of natural products for anticancer drugs. It was isolated from the Bark (botany), bark of ''Camptotheca acuminata'' (� ...

). It was developed by Mark E. Davis, professor of Chemical Engineering at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, and associates at Insert Therapeutics, Inc., now Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., hence the original name "IT-101". Its novel delivery mode allows the agent, and thus the toxic anti-cancer component, to be preferentially accumulated in cancer tissue. In turn, toxic side effect are expected to be reduced. The technology was licensed by Calando and Caltech to Cerulean Pharma, in 2009.

Clinical trials

The Phase 1/2a

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

was conducted at the

City of Hope National Medical Center City of Hope is a private, non-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate school located in Duarte, California, United States. The center's main campus resides on of land adjacent to the boundaries of Duarte and Irwindale, California ...

, the

Translational Genomics Research Institute The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a non-profit genomics research institute based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. History and activities TGen was established in July 2002 by Jeffrey Trent in Phoenix, Arizona, w ...

, and San Juan Oncology Associates.

Media

IT-101 and Mark E. Davis were included in a PBS documentary titled ''Survival''.{{cite web , url = http://www.thirteen.org/curious/survival/watch-the-full-episode-survival/23/ , title = ''Survival'' , website = thirteen.org

References

External links

Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
was Insert Therapeutics, Inc.
Cerulean Pharma Inc.
CRLX101 licensee and current developer
Q&A with Mark Davis on Thirteen

at California Institute of Technology Experimental cancer drugs