Navarrabiomed demonstrates the efficacy of oleuropein to improve the response to immunotherapy of tumours resistant to such therapies
- This is a pre-clinical study for which a patent is currently being sought and is hoped to grow into a national Public Innovation Procurement project
Navarrabiomed demonstrates the efficacy of oleuropein to improve the response to immunotherapy of tumours resistant to such therapies
This is a pre-clinical study for which a patent is currently being sought and is hoped to grow into a national Public Innovation Procurement project
The biomedical research centre Navarrabiomed has demonstrated in pre-clinical trials in mice that use of the molecule oleuropein (a phenolic compound present in olives and olive leaves), combined with traditional immunotherapies, improves the clinical response in animal models resistant to PD-1/PD-L1-blocking immunotherapy. This finding, which has been published in the British Journal of Cancer, is currently in the patent process and is hoped to grow into a Public Innovation Procurement project from the Fundación Miguel Servet aimed at speeding up the development of small molecules, such as oleuropein, heading into clinical trials.
The Oncoimmunology Unit, which is headed by the investigator David Escors, has been undertaking studies in immunotherapy against cancers that result in more effective treatments since 2008. The identification of the immunomodulatory ability of oleuropein performed at Navarrabiomed will allow it to be combined with other treatments, thereby enhancing the antitumour response in different types of cancer.
The investigators Grazyna Kochan and Ester Blanco have led this research, which has also counted on the participation of professionals from the Scientific/Technical Proteomics Department at Navarrabiomed, the Medical Oncology Department at the Hospital Universitario de Navarra and the Cancer Gene Therapy Group at the Cima Universidad de Navarra.
From basic research to the patient
This study focuses on the need to generate small molecules, identified previously in the basic research laboratories, under the conditions required by the quality and safety standards established by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The availability of these molecules, in terms of the quantity and quality required for clinical trials, will accelerate the development of new drugs.
Navarrabiomed – Fundación Miguel Servet is currently involved in a Public Innovation Procurement process at a national level to develop, together with industry, a platform that transfers laboratory findings to patients, speeding up the use of molecules in clinical trials within the National Health System. Development of the platform contemplates an initial case concerning the specific use of oleuropein, which can subsequently be extrapolated to other molecules.
