Intensity Therapeutics, Inc. joins patients, caregivers and rare disease advocates worldwide to recognize Rare Disease Day 2019, which is February 28. The main objective of the day is to raise public awareness of rare diseases, which are often severely debilitating illnesses that have a dramatic impact on patients’ lives. “Unfortunately, such diseases do not receive nearly as much attention as they should,” said Lewis H. Bender, President and CEO of Intensity Therapeutics, Inc. “The lack of attention negatively impacts the ability of foundations and organizations to serve rare disease patients and fund the services needed to improve conditions.”
“Intensity Therapeutics is honored to touch the lives of patients with two types of rare and difficult-to-treat cancer, chordoma and cholangiocarcinoma, through our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical study of INT230-6. These patients motivate and inspire the Intensity team every day to address the urgent unmet need for a new treatment, as there are currently no drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat chordoma and more options are desperately needed for cholangiocarcinoma,” Bender added.
About Chordoma
Chordoma is a rare type of cancer that occurs in the bones of the skull base and spine. It is part of a group of malignant bone and soft tissue tumors called sarcomas. A chordoma tumor usually grows slowly, often without symptoms at first, and then might cause symptoms for years before doctors find it. Chordomas are complicated tumors to treat due to the involvement of critical structures such as the brainstem, spinal cord, and important nerves and arteries. Chordoma is diagnosed in just one in one million people per year. For more information visit chordomafoundation.org
About Cholangiocarcinoma
Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare and often fatal cancer that affects the bile ducts. In most cases, cholangiocarcinoma arises in those parts of the bile ducts that lie outside the liver. Rarely, the cancer can develop in ducts that are located within the liver. Cholangiocarcinoma is a very difficult type of tumor to treat because surgery to remove the tumor is complex and may require part or all of the liver to be removed as well. Approximately 8,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma each year. For more information visit cholangiocarcinoma.org
About INT230-6
INT230-6, Intensity’s lead product candidate designed for direct intratumoral injection, is comprised of two proven, potent anti-cancer agents and a penetration enhancer molecule that helps disperse the drugs throughout tumors and diffuse into cancer cells. INT230-6 is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study (NCT03058289) in patients with various advanced solid tumors. In preclinical studies, INT230-6 eradicated tumors by a combination of direct tumor kill and recruitment of dendritic cells to the tumor micro-environment that induced anti-cancer T-cell activation. Treatment with INT230-6 in in vivo models of severe cancer resulted in substantial improvement in overall survival compared to standard therapies. Further, INT230-6 provided complete responder animals with long-term, durable protection from multiple re-inoculations of the initial cancer and resistance to other cancers. In mouse models, INT230-6 has shown strong synergy with checkpoint blockage, including anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4 antibodies. INT230-6 was discovered from Intensity’s DfuseRxSM platform.
About Intensity Therapeutics
Intensity Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new immune-based approach to treat solid tumor cancers. Intensity leverages its DfuseRxSM technology platform to create new drug formulations that, following direct injection, rapidly disperse throughout a tumor and diffuse therapeutic agents into cancer cells. Intensity’s product candidates have the potential to induce an adaptive immune response that not only attacks the injected tumor, but also non-injected tumors and unseen micro-metastases. INT230-6, Intensity’s lead product candidate, is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with various advanced solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.intensitytherapeutics.com and follow us on Twitter @IntensityInc.