Novel PROTACs for the treatment of cancer


Medicine

Ref.-No.: 0803-6605-1-IKF

Cancer stands as the second-leading cause of human death worldwide, following closely behind cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, with a prevalence that continues to rise.

Pancreatic cancer, in particular, continues to challenge the field of oncology with a 5-years survival rate of 11% and limited treatment options. Hematologic malignancies have also seen a steady rise in incident cases since 1990, reaching about 1.3 million in 2019.

Despite substantial research efforts, the current treatment options for pancreatic and hematologic malignancies remain limited and there is still a need for better treatments characterized by higher effectiveness and lower side effects.

Technology

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology have developed a novel class of bifunctional protein targeting chimeras (PROTACs).

These PROTACs offer the potential to induce the degradation of a number of proteins, including:

  • PDEδ: A significant regulator of cellular distribution and activity of Ras-oncoproteins;
  • BET family of bromodomain proteins: Key players in epigenetic regulation;
  • BLK and Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK): central targets in hematologic malignancies.

The PROTACs are characterized by an arylidene-indolinone structure, and have shown a remarkable protein degradation activity at low nanomolar concentrations.

In vitro data on leukemia cell lines further demonstrate a promising antiproliferative effect, with an IC50 in the nanomolar range.

Patent Information

Priority Patent Application filed in March 2023.

Opportunity

We are open to research partnerships and license agreements to accelerate the integration of our PROTACs into the clinical practice.

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Contact

Senior Patent- & License Manager

Dr. Ingrid Kapser-Fischer

Nutritionist, M.Sc.

Phone: +49 89 / 29 09 19-19
Email:
kapser-fischer@max-planck-innovation.de

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