Clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, Tocagen, has entered into a partnership agreement with MRI Interventions and Brainlab.
Under the collaboration, Tocagen will use MRI Interventions' ClearPoint neuro intervention system at selected sites in its ongoing investigational clinical trial for the delivery of Toca 511 into brain tumours, under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance.
Toca 511, a retroviral replicating vector (RRV), is designed to deliver a cytosine deaminase gene selectively to cancer cells, which then converts the flucytosine (FC) prodrug into the anti-cancer drug 5-fluorouracil.
Tocagen is currently enrolling patients in its investigational, open-label, multicenter trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Toca 511 when injected into the brain tumour and followed by oral administration of Toca FC in patients with recurrent glioma.
Neurosurgeons participating in the Tocagen clinical trial plan to use the ClearPoint system to place the catheter into the brain tumour and then deliver Toca 511 directly into the tumour, while observing the delivery in real time via MRI.
Patient enrollment is currently underway at one of the several trial centers for the multicenter Phase 1/2 study.
Brainlab CFO Joseph Doyle said: "By offering a platform for delivering therapeutic agents direct to the central nervous system, we hope to make promising therapies more accessible to patients."
