Avipep’s product Avibody designed to readily bind to and be absorbed by cancer cells

Highly potent cancer drugs are being developed in Melbourne in the hope of providing a “new and improved” version of immunotherapy.

The first batch of the new drugs have been delivered to researchers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Melbourne researchers are turbo-boosting cancer treatments through the development of tiny particles that can be packed full of drugs and snuck inside cancer cells to kill them from within.

Antibody drug conjugates are a new class of highly potent cancer drugs – a “new and improved” version of immunotherapy – that are a designed to have the right “lock and key” markers on their surface so they can readily bind to and be absorbed by cancer cells.

Victorian drug developer Avipep has advanced its design of their antibody fragment technology, with the therapy is ramping up to be tested in Victorian blood cancer patients.

Their Avibody product is now three times smaller so more antibodies can be taken up by the tumour, and they have improved the anti-cancer drug inside so it is less toxic.

Avipep chief scientist Peter Hudson said a challenge for the field has been packing the nanoparticles with enough drug, without causing toxic side-effects elsewhere in the body.

But he said they were hopeful their new improved version could overcome this hurdle and offer new hope to relapsed lymphoma patients.

“This new field will revolutionise immunotherapy,” Dr Hudson said.

“The antibody is designed to bind to the cell surface molecule on the surface of the cancer.

“When it binds to it, it gets taken inside the cell, they get processed and broken down.

“But what the cancer cell doesn’t realise that in the process of breaking down the antibody, it releases the drug. All this happens within the cancer cell. It doesn’t realise it’s dead before it is.”

In a previous first-in-human study in Melbourne, they were able to show that their compact antibody product was readily taken up by tumour cells.

Now, with the first batch of the product hand-delivered to researchers at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for further animal testing, Dr Hudson said this would give them the final evidence they need to launch a clinical trial next year in patients.

“The hope it that it can treat the cancer patients for longer, while waiting for their own immune system to build up and knock the cancer off itself, just like it’s done with other types of immunotherapy,” he said.

This latest study is backed by the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund, which supports early-stage research to fast-track projects from the laboratory into the clinic.

“Victorian companies like Avipep are making great strides in developing new and amazing treatments that have the potential to change lives and save lives,” said Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford.