Sanovas , a life science company accelerating the development and commercialization of next-generation microinvasive diagnostics, devices and drug delivery technologies, announced today that US Patent No. 8,834,544 has issued to the company.
The patent, entitled "Photodynamic Therapy for Tumors with Localized Delivery," secures broad protection for new systems and methods for reversing hypoxia in therapy-resistant tumors and for delivering combination therapy to peripheral tumors, specifically lung cancer.
The accuracy of the drug/device system is designed to reduce, if not eliminate, the systemic toxicity and side effects associated with traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
The precision therapy technology incorporates direct visualization and local/regional drug infusion with photodynamic radiation and real-time treatment analytics to offer the clinician an objective, evidence-based approach to targeted radiation oncology.
"Treatment of peripheral lung tumors is growing more relevant given the increased burden of cases as lung cancer screening becomes mainstream," said Gordon H. Downie, MD, PhD, FCCP, a Pulmonologist at Northeast Texas Interventional Medicine, and a clinical adviser to Sanovas.
"We want to avoid ‘snake oil’ promises for alternative oncologic agents, but peripheral PDT with local/regional assessment and drug-treatment delivery appears to adequately address all of these concerns," said Dr. Downie.
"One of the most common problems encountered during radiation therapy of malignant tumors is that the tumor cells become deficient in oxygen – a condition referred to as hypoxia," explained Dr. Downie. "It looks promising that this system addresses the hypoxia dilemma. As a long-time proponent of using PDT technology to address peripheral lung tumors, I am truly excited by the potential this approach could lead to, and I look forward to seeing clinical research to confirm the promise this patent suggests."
"There is a significant unmet clinical need for a method of treating hypoxic malignant tumors that is capable of delivering an oxygenating agent directly to target tumor tissue within a bodily cavity in order to achieve more precise and efficient oxygenation of the target tumor site, as well as to avoid exposing the surrounding healthy tissue to potentially damaging chemical agents," said Larry Gerrans, the Inventor, Founder, President and CEO of Sanovas.