Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT) has received Phase I small business innovative research (SBIR) grant of $158,000 from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the development of an anti cancer drug.
The grant will advance the development to further characterize a potent inhibitor of glycolysis targeting 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3) in models of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM).
ACT president and CEO Randall Riggs said the NIH grant recognizes the potential significance of the novel inhibitor of a key molecular target in cancer metabolism.
"This project seems to be the perfect case for SBIR funding because, in collaboration with Dr. Jason Chesney from the Brown Cancer Center, this work will explore the potential usefulness of an innovative treatment and could justify the advancement of such therapy into human clinical trials," Riggs added.
PFKFB3, the enzyme involved in the first irreversible step of glycolysis, was validated as a relevant cancer metabolism target.
The inhibition of PFKFB3 enzyme by the cancer therapeutics results in blocking glucose uptake in cancer cells thereby restraining cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth.
ACT chief scientific officer Dr. Gilles Tapolsky said, "This grant will support ACT's efforts to investigate the use of this novel therapeutic agent targeting PFKFB3, a cancer metabolism target commonly over-expressed in GBM."
