Ontario Institute for Cancer Research funding aims to speed the development of new drugs for some of the most common cancers

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) continues to support Ontario drug discovery research by funding high-quality investigations of new therapies for some of the most prevalent pediatric and adult cancers. These projects are tackling substantial challenges in cancer by increasing the effectiveness and availability of immunotherapies, making cancer more vulnerable to chemotherapy and developing a new drug for one of the deadliest forms of childhood brain cancer.

OICR’s Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline (CTIP) initiative is supporting three research teams with up to $300,000 each to conduct Early Validation projects and another with $300,000 for a Late Accelerator project. Early Validation projects aim to lay the groundwork for future therapies by accumulating evidence that ‘targeting’ specific molecules in cancer cells have the potential to become a therapy for cancer patients in the future. Late Accelerator projects aim to speed the creation of new drugs that act on relevant, validated cancer targets.

CTIP’s committee of experts from academia and industry reviews initial applications for funding and provides scientific and strategic advice to the funded research teams to help them advance their discoveries and offer guidance on attracting the partnerships and investments needed to bring new drugs to the clinic.

“Ontario is home to some of the world’s best drug discovery researchers and we are proud to provide them with this support to see that the newest precision cancer treatments reach patients as soon as possible,” said Dr. Laszlo Radvanyi, OICR’s President and Scientific Director. “This funding will also help further strengthen drug discovery research in the province and boost collaboration in our cancer research community.”

“Ontario is proud to support the work of OICR and programs like the Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline that lead to new discoveries and innovations in cancer research,” said Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges and Universities. “It is very encouraging to see promising new therapies like these that have the potential to help patients beat some of the most common types of cancer and lead longer and healthier lives.”

Funded projects

Early Validation

Generating an anti-BCMA trispecific natural killer engager for use in multiple myeloma

• Principal investigators: Dr. Alissa Visram, The Ottawa Hospital and Dr. Scott McComb, National Research Council of Canada
• Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable blood cancer and patients who do not respond to three frontline therapies (known as triple-refractory patients) typically live fewer than twelve months when treated with standard of care treatments. New immunotherapies in MM target the BCMA protein expressed on cancer cells, and lead to activation of T-cell immune subsets that kill cancer cells. However, these therapies are not widely accessible to patients in Canada. This project aims to develop a new form of BCMA therapy that will engage different kinds of immune cells (natural killer cells), that will be manufactured as an off-the-shelf product to avoid lengthy manufacturing delays that are associated with chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy. This study is the first step in creating cost-effective, accessible immunotherapies for Canadian patients with MM.

Targeting the interferon pathway to treat chronic leukemias and other blood cancers

• Principal investigators: Dr. David Spaner, Sunnybrook Research Institute and Dr. Theodore Brown, Mount Sinai Hospital/Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute
• Project summary: This project aims to develop new, targeted medications to make leukemia cells more susceptible to chemotherapy with reduced side effects. The drugs would prevent leukemia cells from producing a molecule called interferon, which helps them grow and strengthens their ability to resist chemotherapy. Drugs that are currently available to block the effects of interferon have many side effects since interferon is also produced by healthy cells and is important in fighting infections.

Identifying an MLH1 small molecule inhibitor for combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors

• Principal investigators: Dr. Saman Maleki, Lawson Health Research Institute and London Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Masoud Vedadi, OICR and Dr. Rima Al-awar, OICR
• Project summary: Most cancers do not respond to immunotherapy, a powerful and relatively new form of treatment. This project is undertaking the development of a new drug that could make most types of cancers responsive to immunotherapy, including neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in infants, and breast cancer, the most common cancer in women. This could open a new line of treatment for those cancers and others.

Late Accelerator

Unlocking New Hope: Targeting METTL13 for the Treatment of Diffuse Midline Glioma

• Principal investigators: Dr. Cynthia Hawkins, The Hospital for Sick Children
• Project summary: Brain cancers are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children, and diffuse midline glioma (DMG) is one of its deadliest forms. This project is pursuing the development of a new drug or small molecule that can kill DMG cells by targeting a key enzyme involved in protein production. This therapy could improve the survival rates of children with DMG and may be effective in treating other types of cancer.

These four projects join CTIP’s portfolio of promising potential cancer therapeutics, which has now funded 30 projects to date. CTIP is supporting research in Ontario to move these therapies towards clinical use, while at the same time creating a pipeline of promising drugs to attract partnerships and investment to Ontario.

OICR is funded by the Government of Ontario. As the province’s cancer research institute, we take on the biggest challenges in cancer research and deliver real-world solutions to find cancer earlier and treat it more effectively. We are committed to helping people living with cancer, as well as future generations, live longer and healthier lives. For more information visit http://www.oicr.on.ca.

The views expressed are those of OICR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Province of Ontario.