MBF Therapeutics Inc. (MBFT) and Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) have partnered to develop a drug treatment for common and aggressive cancers in dogs and cats. MBFT will have exclusive access to preclinical data from research being conducted by Thomas O’Brien, Ph.D., a professor at LIMR and Thomas Jefferson University’s Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology. Dr. O’Brien is a member of MBFT’s Clinical Advisory Board. The drug, called MBFT-101, is described as a combination of two drug molecules that act in concert to kill cancer cells by starving them of nutrients essential for cell growth and survival, with no effect on normal cells. The companies reported that the therapy is intended to be administered orally, at home, for four to six weeks. A pilot clinical study using MBFT-101 is under way at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Clinical Investigation Center. The study, made possible through a grant from Ben Franklin Partners Technology Concept Network to both MBFT and O’Brien, is evaluating the drug in cats with oral squamous cell carcinoma. MBFT will initiate a pilot clinical study using dogs later this year. The hope is to not only advance the development of new therapies for pets, but to set the stage for studies in humans, said George Prendergast, Ph.D., president and CEO of LIMR. MBFT is a development stage veterinary oncology company in Ambler, Pa. LIMR is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research center on the campus of the Lankenau Hospital in suburban Philadelphia. <HOME>
