Al's Comment:

 This is an interesting new approach, but it is important to understand that it is still at the **preclinical research stage**—there is not yet a drug being tested in glioblastoma patients.

 

BioArctic and Mesenkia are combining two technologies. Mesenkia has developed an antibody that targets **HVEM**, a protein found on some glioblastoma cells, including tumor stem cells that may play an important role in treatment resistance and recurrence. BioArctic is adding its **BrainTransporter** technology, which is designed to carry antibodies across the blood-brain barrier.

 

That second part may be the most interesting. One of the major reasons many promising drugs fail in brain tumors is simply that not enough drug reaches tumor cells scattered throughout the brain. In preclinical studies, BioArctic reported that its BrainTransporter increased antibody exposure in the brain by as much as **70-fold**.

 

If this technology really can safely deliver large antibody drugs throughout the brain, its importance could eventually extend well beyond this particular antibody. It might provide a way to revisit other promising treatments that previously could not reach adequate concentrations in the brain.

 

However, we are a long way from knowing whether this will help patients. The companies still have to create the combined drug candidate and test it preclinically before deciding whether to move into human trials.

 

I am encouraged by the concept, particularly because it attacks **two problems at once—finding an important target on resistant glioblastoma cells and figuring out how to get the treatment to those cells.** Now we have to see if it works.

 

BioArctic and Mesenkia Partner to Develop Brain-Penetrant Antibody for Glioblastoma