Cavatar LLC — Department of Health and Human Services STTR Phase I: NCI

Description

PROJECT SUMMARY Early cancer detection and diagnosis are critical for patient survival and treatment successFor the imaging of breast and other solid tumorsthe diagnostic power of advanced imaging techniques such as SPECT could benefit tremendously from improved contrast agents that rapidly and selectively accumulate in tumor lesions and produce high tumor to background signal ratiosWe are developing a novel contrast imaging agent for use in breast cancer and other solid tumors that can enhance image resolution by selectively targeting and delivering imaging probes directly into tumor lesions with little or no accumulation in surrounding normal tissueTo do thiswe are conjugatingmTc to an antibody based delivery platform that exploits a caveolae mediated transvascular transport pathway to target and rapidly deliver cargo across the restrictive vascular endothelium directly into tumor lesions following intravenous injectionThis novel imaging probe will be optimized and then tested in vivo before undergoing the necessary preparations to undergo clinical testingWith assistance from the I Corps programwe will further develop and refine our commercialization strategies as a necessary step towards bringing this innovative technology to the clinic and the marketplace PROJECT NARRATIVE Cavatar is developing a novel imaging reagent which will rapidlyselectivelyand specifically accumulate in solid tumor lesions after an intravenous injectionproviding enhanced image resolutionThis reagent can enable accurate imaging of breast and other solid tumors using existing equipment for screening or diagnostic applicationsThis technology will improve diagnostic accuracy of imagingallow for more accurate stratification of patients and selection of treatment choicesand reduce the need to perform additional diagnostic procedures