Our pipeline of products is focused on two approaches:
inhaled chemotherapies through Dry Powder for Inhalation (DPI), with our lead product CIS-DPI currently investigated in a Phase I/IIa clinical study in combination with Stage IV NSCLC Standards of Care,
an innovative formulation targeting a promising immune pathway for the treatment of pulmonary diseases.
Despite progress in targeted therapy and immunotherapy, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) representing 85% of total cases. Although the use of immunotherapy (immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)) has been approved with great results in a limited but growing subpopulation of NSCLC patients, a majority of patients still do not respond and develop resistances. The use of ICI(s) with chemotherapy, has shown better efficacy than chemotherapy alone and thus is now considered a standard treatment option for patients with advanced lung cancer, non-eligible for targeted therapy. While these immunotherapy/chemotherapy combinations are the standard of care in most cases, the conventional chemotherapy, given intravenously, presents many limitations in terms of targeted exposure, systemic toxicities, and consequently frequency of treatments. InhaTarget Therapeutics has developed an innovative approach to administer these proven widely used molecules through the pulmonary route and to considerably improve the benefit/risk ratio of the drug, in combination with immunotherapies.
The key value leverage of this approach is based on the following contemplated elements:
Higher frequency of treatment (5 times weekly inhalation for our CIS-DPI product vs every 3 weeks for the conventional iv cisplatin) thanks to the bypass of systemic toxicities with the inhalation route;
Higher exposure of the tumor site to the drug;
A patient-centered approach thanks to the choice of the dry powder formulation, enabling a safe, non-invasive and user-friendly administration at home;
An increased efficacy through (i) the higher exposure of the tumor cells to the cytotoxic drug and (ii) the local immunogenic properties of our inhaled chemotherapies (significant increase of dendritic cells and CD8 T lymphocytes, a higher infiltration by T cells for antitumor activity and an upregulation of PD-L1 in tumor cells). These immunogenic properties make of our CIS-DPI product (and other inhaled chemotherapy products currently under development) an excellent drug candidate for combinations with immunotherapy in the treatment of lung cancer.
Our company lead product is a cisplatin-based dry powder formulation, for the treatment of lung cancer.
Cisplatin is a platinum-derivative chemotherapy drug administered as a standard of care in most lung cancer patients. The new route of administration of this well-known drug aims at proposing the following advantages:
to overcome systemic toxicities, hence increasing the frequency of local treatment,
to increase the local drug exposure, hence inducing a local and anti-tumour immune response through its immunogenic properties.
CIS-DPI is to be administered 5 times weekly (5 days-on – 2 days-off) at the patient’s home, in combination with current Standards of Care.
(either pembrolizumab or pembrolizumab combined with an iv platinum-doublet)
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Our lead product is currently investigated in a Phase I/IIa trial in 5 clinical centers in Belgium.
To learn more about this trial, visit the clinical trial page.
The choice of chemotherapeutical regimens for the treatment of lung cancer depends on the patient population (squamous NSCLC, non-squamous NSCLC, adenocarcinoma,…).
The goal of InhaTarget Therapeutics is to propose, via the inhalation route and through specific formulations, a similar panel of drugs to all these patient populations to significantly improve the treatment outcome.
InhaTarget Therapeutics is currently developing 2 other inhaled chemotherapy compounds at the preclinical stage.
The company is currently developing a breakthrough technology based on inhaled nano-medicine targeting a specific immune pathway. The activation of this pathway drastically improves the immune response to severe diseases such as lung cancers and lung infections.
This product is a first-in-class medication which is currently in preclinical development. Current data obtained in relevant animal and human non-clinical models show, thanks to our new approach and formulation, a promising activation of specific immune cell populations to promote natural defense against multiple diseases.
