According to a story from finanznachrichten.de, the biotherapeutics company 4D pharma has recently announced a research partnership with the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. The goal of this collaboration is to test 4D’s Live Biotherapeutic drug candidates against a variety of different solid tumor cancers. 4D has been an innovator in the development of Live Biotherapeutics. The partners will use the company’s experimental candidate MRx0518 in their research.
About Live Biotherapeutics
Live Biotherapeutics are a unique treatment approach that utilizes certain strains of bacteria that come from the digestive tract of healthy donors. These strains have been identified in previous research as having the potential to treat disease. These bacteria are ingested in capsule form by the patient. 4D is currently testing these types of drugs in a clinical trial for irritable bowel disease and it is also being investigated in a variety of other disease areas. Prior research has indicated that the characteristics of the gut microbiome can play a major role in cancer, mental disorders, and many other types of disease.
Research Path
The research will begin with a Phase I clinical trial in which MRx0518 will be administered alongside the cancer drug Keytruda. This open label study is expected to recruit a total of 132 patients who have metastatic cancer. This trial will not test the therapy against a single type of cancer but is expected to include patients with multiple types, such as melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer.
So far it appears that current plans will test the experimental therapy in combination with other treatments. 4D and the MD Anderson Cancer Center also plan to test MRx0518 alongside stereotactic body radiation therapy as a treatment for pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most deadly forms of cancer. These studies are expected to provide valuable data that will determine how the development of this therapy and other Live Biotherapeutics will continue moving forward.
