Cytopia teams with cancer research heavy-hitters

Melbourne company Cytopia has teamed with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), and New York's Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research to develop new lead drug compounds for treatment of metastatic cancers based on the Eph receptor protein.

The Eph receptor is implicated in the control of cell adhesion and migration, processes that go awry in metastatic cancers. It acts via a kinase enzyme.

Cytopia is also developing therapeutic candidates targeted at immune-system activating JAK kinases.

As the commercial partner, Cytopia will have first option on commercial rights to potential drugs arising from the collaboration, subject to the company paying for all patent application costs.

"We are extremely proud that of many possible partners worldwide, the consortium participants have chosen Cytopia to not only participate in the project, but also potentially commercialise the intellectual property resulting from it," said Cytopia CEO Dr Kevin Healey.

Healey said Cytopia's computational biology group, headed by Dr Herbert Treutlein, would team with Sloan-Kettering scientists to model receptor-ligand structures, based on crystal structure data from the Sloan Kettering Institute.

Cytopia will then design and produce potential inhibitors, such as peptides or other small molecules, for laboratory and animal testing at the Ludwig Institute and QIMR.

Healey said that the collaborators hoped to identify lead compounds for further development within the two year timeframe of the collaboration.

"We aim to have proof of biological activity of small molecule inhibitors in an animal model," he said.

Cytopia is a subsidiary of Medica Holdings, a publicly listed pooled development fund (ASX:MCA).