Oxford Drug Design has announced the successful initial in vivo validation of a novel cancer therapeutic discovered using its proprietary SynthAI platform. The 28-day mouse trial demonstrated significant tumor regression against MCF7 breast cancer cells, marking a major milestone for the company's AI-driven drug discovery program. This achievement underscores the potential of AI to accelerate the development of more precise and less toxic cancer treatments.
The in vivo study, a standard mouse xenograft, involved inserting MCF7 breast cancer cells into the fat pad of mice. Six mice were included in each arm of the study, with rapamycin serving as a positive control. The current lead compound from Oxford Drug Design's program exhibited clear efficacy, demonstrating significant tumor regression and a well-defined dose response across a range of 0-30 mg/kg. These encouraging results, obtained in the company's first mouse xenograft with its first compound, indicate substantial potential for further optimization and improvement.
Advancing Towards Clinical Trials
Oxford Drug Design is already conducting further xenografts against colorectal cancer in collaboration with the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute (CRUK SI). Additional in vivo studies are planned against other tumor types as well. The company is focused on optimizing its compounds for improved efficacy and other parameters, with the goal of advancing the program towards clinical trials. Investment funding is being sought to support this ongoing work, which aims to identify the optimal candidate molecule for human clinical trials.
The Power of SynthAI
SynthAI, Oxford Drug Design's AI drug discovery platform, is designed to deliver highly efficient results by simultaneously fulfilling two key criteria: producing drug candidates that can be feasibly synthesized and manufactured economically, and identifying compounds with the desired biological activity. This streamlined precision has the potential to accelerate and reduce the cost of discovering and developing novel cancer therapeutics. The platform is disease-agnostic, allowing it to be applied to other serious conditions with unmet needs.
Implications for Cancer Treatment
This successful in vivo validation represents a significant step forward in the development of first-in-class cancer treatments. Oxford Drug Design's integrated expertise in generative AI and tRNA-synthetase drug discovery has the potential to make a powerful impact on the treatment of cancers where existing treatments have serious drawbacks. The company is now focused on bringing this potentially superior treatment into the clinic, while also expanding its capabilities to other disease areas with unmet needs.
