Treating Rare Diseases

A collaboration between Florida Atlantic University and the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., has led to the development of a new drug that could treat a rare cancer. Now, they’ve taken the next step to advance that development by partnering with a pharmaceutical company in Doylestown, Pa., called SteroTherapeutics, LLC.

“Anytime a university is able to license their technology to industry, it's a big deal,” said Dana J. Vouglitois, J.D., associate director, Office of Technology Development.

The new drug could be the answer to more effectively treat multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell known as plasma cells in the bone marrow. While it is treatable, it is not curable and kills more than 12,500 people every year. Because the disease is so rare, it’s difficult to find sources of funding to develop new treatments.

Gregg Fields, Ph.D., co-director of the Memorial Cancer Institute/Florida Atlantic University Cancer Center of Excellence, in collaboration with Conor Lynch, Ph.D., a professor and senior member with the Moffitt Center, created a compound that significantly reduces the growth of cancer tumors in multiple myeloma. With the help of the Office of Technology Development, they filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect the compound.

SteroTherapeutics focuses on developing drugs for rare diseases. They’ve licensed the rights to the pending patent application and will fund the further development of the drug with the goal to initiate clinical trials in the next few years, Vouglitois said. “Once the drug receives FDA approval, the company would potentially be entitled to a period of market exclusivity for the manufacture and sale of the drug,” she added.

“It's exciting to be able to take something developed in the lab here at FAU and translate it, with the help of the company, into a product that will benefit people that are suffering from this disease” Vouglitois said.