Stem Cell Theranostics, CapellaBio establish cardio-oncology collaboration

By combining CapellaBio’s SMarTR computational analysis platform with SCT’s iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte discovery platform, advanced drug leads have been identified in the first of a series of programs.

Cancer survivors have an 8-fold higher risk of death from cardiac-related events than the general population and a 15-fold increased risk of developing heart failure.

The underlying cause has been attributed to the effects of cardiotoxic cancer therapies such as anthracyclines, protein kinase inhibitors and antibody therapies.

The first collaborative program is focused on discovering cardioprotective drugs to prevent anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity. There is currently only one FDA-approved agent, Dexrazoxane, but this has limited indication approval and has not been widely used due to concerns that it may interfere with the anti-tumor activity of anthracyclines.

Novel cardioprotectants with improved efficacy and safety profiles that could be used across multiple indications would offer significant clinical benefit.

Stem Cell Theranostics CEO Chris Armstrong said: "Combining a computational biomedicine approach with advanced iPSC-derived preclinical models promises to dramatically accelerate the discovery of novel therapies.

"In less than 6 months, our collaboration with CapellaBio has led to the discovery and validation of several promising cardioprotectant drug leads with best-in-class properties."

CapellaBio founder and CEO Pek Lum said: "We are very fortunate to have an excellent partner like SCT. Together, we have identified drug candidates at an unprecedented speed for an unmet medical need in cancer treatment.

"These promising drug candidates demonstrate strong biological profiles and signatures. Our work in validating these candidates in human-derived stem cells models confirms that these compounds are extremely promising leads."

"Cardiovascular disease caused by cancer therapies is a significant and growing clinical problem," said Dr. Robert C. Robbins, President and CEO, Texas Medical Center.

"Cardio-Oncology programs like this, that focus on developing therapies to prevent heart damage caused by chemotherapy, are essential to not only improve the quality of life of cancer survivors, but to also reduce the economic burden on the healthcare system."