Many of the greatest advances in science and medicine have been driven by an “entrepreneurial” spirit, and ABC2 believes that a sense of entrepreneurism can continue to be a powerful force in advancing brain cancer research. In order to encourage companies to develop new therapies, ABC2 invests in early stage clinical work in order to test whether a particular drug might be effective in treating brain cancer. ABC2’s investments are designed to accelerate clinical trials and catalyze further investments to bring more effective treatments to patients. Using this approach, in partnership with Genentech, ABC2 was able to demonstrate Avastin effectiveness in treating brain cancer. In 2009, beyond our academic research grants, ABC2 invested in three companies each of which hold the potential to dramatically improve patient care.
Agios Pharmaceuticals is a Boston based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics in the emerging field of cancer metabolism. ABC2’s investment is enabling Agios to explore whether the mutated IDH1 gene has an enzyme activity consistent with a cancer-causing gene, or oncogene. This work stems from a breakthrough discovery which showed that the mutated form of IDH1 produces a metabolite, which may contribute to the formation and malignant progression of gliomas. Agios is investigating opportunities to develop therapies for brain cancer and other cancers where IDH1 mutations are present using new drugs that can target the IDH1 metabolic pathway.
Tocagen is a San Diego based biotech company, which is developing a virally-based drug delivery and treatment system for brain cancer. Tocagen’s technology uses a virus that will selectively spread in cancer tissue, while not harming normal tissue. Specifically, the virus will only grow in dividing cells or in the case of the brain, only cancer cells. Tocagen’s system delivers a non-toxic prodrug version of a classic anti-cancer agent which is metabolized inside the tumor cell to become the true cytotoxic agent. Tocagen believes this therapeutic gene will behave like a Trojan horse killing the tumor cells from within without exposing the patient to high levels of chemotherapy that often cause toxicity.
While brain cancer survival rates for non-GBM tumors are rising, many of the life saving treatments that account for this progress can have a negative impact on cognitive function among survivors. Unfortunately, the rehabilitation approaches currently in use are quite limited and can leave survivors ill equipped to cope with the cognitive demands of their daily life. ABC2 is working with Honeywell to develop a rehabilitation system that monitors a user’s ability to process information. The system would initially help retrain the brain by providing real-time assistance when cognitive demands exceed a person’s available processing capacity. “Aug Cog,” as the technology is called, builds on research first conducted for the military’s R&D lab DARPA as part of the “Super Soldier Program.”
