When you think of cancer therapies, you may automatically think of chemo and radiation. While those are highly effective at putting certain cancers into remission, other cancers are notoriously resistant to them. 

These legacy treatments kill off cancers by, for lack of a better term, poisoning all of the body’s growing cells  – not just the cancerous ones, but the healthy ones too. This is why they cause terrible side effects for some people. They are effectively experiencing the symptoms of radiation and/or chemical poisoning. 

Due to the unpleasant side effects and the ineffectiveness of chemo and radiation to treat certain cancers like lung, prostate, breast, and colon, there is a huge amount of interest in a new form of cancer treatment: targeted therapy.

Rather than killing off cells indiscriminately, these drug therapies target cancer cells specifically by switching off the growth pathways, including one called KRAS. KRAS is a group of genes whose mutations are well known to drive cancer. However, it is one of the most difficult cancer pathways to inhibit because most drugs cannot bind to them.

Cancer drug R&D attracts $238 Million IPO 

Revolution Medicines is one preclinical biotech company developing a groundbreaking cancer treatment that targets this RAS pathway. 

The biotech company recently went through with its IPO, outraising its USD $100 million goal and securing a massive USD $238 million, an incredible result that will help Revolution Medicines bring their drug to clinical study. 

This IPO win is likely because the cancer research community has been waiting for decades for a data-backed RAS-targeting innovation.

Targeted cancer drug PTX-100’s broader applications 

While Revolution Medicine’s KRAS drug targets individual mutations, Prescient Therapeutics, another biotech company, is developing a drug with a broader application. 

PTX-100 is a targeted cancer drug that takes a blanket approach and inhibits the growth of a broad range of RAS mutations. As well as RAS, PTX-100 is the only drug in development that targets RhoA pathways which means this drug could be effective at treating a number of diseases other than cancer. 

While KRAS is in its very early R&D stages, PTX-100 is much further advanced. It’s already passed its phase one study, in which it was found to be safe and effective within a group of patients with advanced cancers who saw little results from previous therapies. It was well-tolerated and stabilised disease progression for solid tumours, mostly those of the gastrointestinal tract. 

PTX-100 has now entered phase 1B which is led by the world-renowned oncologist, Professor Miles Prince. Once complete, PTX hopes to move to further study of the drug’s effectiveness against a range of blood cancers and other solid cancers over three to four years.

Reach Markets have been engaged by PTX to assist with private investor management.