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news.ThromboGenics and Belgium-based life sciences institute VIB have launched a new oncology company Oncurious for the development of TB-403, a humanized monoclonal antibody against placental growth factor (PlGF), to treat pediatric brain tumors.
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In this new oncology venture, VIB will become a shareholder alongside ThromboGenics, which will be the majority shareholder.
ThromboGenics CEO Dr Patrik De Haes said: "The formation of Oncurious is an important development for ThromboGenics, which will allow us to even more focus our efforts on achieving our goals in the ophthalmology space.
"This new venture should also enable an acceleration of the development of TB-403 for the treatment of medulloblastoma, a devastating cancer that affects children and adolescents."
PlGF is expressed in several types of cancer, including medulloblastoma, a rare, life-threatening brain tumor that mainly affects children.
High expression of the PlGF receptor neuropilin 1 has been shown to correlate with poor overall survival.
In relevant animal models, treatment with TB-403 for medulloblastoma has shown beneficial effects on tumor growth and survival. The favorable safety profile of TB-403 has already been shown in clinical trials in patients with other diseases.
In February 2013, a paper in Cell highlighted for the first time that PlGF plays a major role in the brain and that its expression is required for the growth and spread of medulloblastoma.
The paper was based on pre-clinical research conducted by professor Rakesh Jain from the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard, Boston, and the team of professor Peter Carmeliet from VIB/ KU Leuven.
The new company plans to begin a Phase I/IIa program with TB-403 to treat medulloblastoma, with first patient expected to be enrolled by the end of 2015.