Platform creation in cancer metastasis research
Mestastop Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and Ectica Technologies AG entered a research collaboration to pursue novel platform creation on cancer metastasis that would build upon Ectica and Mestastop’s proprietary technologies. Mestastop, a four-year-old biotech based out of the USA and India wants to address both novel drug discovery and drug repurposing around metastasis and identify more metastasis specific patterns in primary tumor samples of patients, thereby building a predictive algorithm for early metastasis diagnosis. To this end, Mestastop successfully created three platform technologies around cancer metastasis drug discovery and early predictive diagnostics. Ectica Technologies develops advanced hydrogel-based co-cultures platforms for in vitro/ex vivo tumor-stroma interaction studies compatible with high-content screening. In the context of this research collaboration Mestastop and Ectica will share know-how and technologies in the fields of genetic engineering and functional phenotypic cell-based assays relevant for metastasis research and metastasis organotropism.
All pre-existing intellectual property will remain the property of the respective party, and either party shall have no right or license to the other’s intellectual property. The objective of this collaboration will be to explore the possibilities of using both technologies to build a novel system that will support researchers in cancer metastasis research.
Speaking on this partnership, Dr Arnab Roy Chowdhury, Founder and Director of Mestastop Solutions, said, “When we started, we realized the importance of understanding the metastasis biology and recreating it on the bench so that the rate-limiting steps could be identified. Having completed that goal, we now want to explore the organotropism around metastasis, and the novel Ectica co-culture platforms are the best way to study that. We are very excited about this partnership and are hopeful about bringing some innovation to the table”. Dr. Benjamin Simona, Founder and CEO of Ectica Technologies, said; “We are very keen to collaborate with Mestastop Solutions on the development of new assay technologies and future discoveries in cancer metastasis. The first time Arnab and I met at an EACR metastasis meeting in Berlin, I remember a long lunch break looking together at microscopy 3D reconstructions of adenocarcinoma and cancer-associated fibroblasts co-cultures and thinking of ways to perturb cancer cell migration. Both our companies work hard to contribute to the progress of cancer research and it is great to do this together”.
Mestastop Solutions: Metastasis specialists
Cancer metastasis, a complex biological process responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths, has hardly any treatment options. Mestastop has created three platforms to address the unmet needs around metastasis drug discovery and predictive diagnostics. With presentations in seven international conferences and two filed PCTs, Mestastop is currently translating its research into patient tumor samples. Mestastop is founded by Dr. Arnab Roy Chowdhury and his partner-in-life Dr. Debabani Roy Chowdhury. Mestastop leadership has led several drug discovery programs in collaboration with big pharma and biotechs over the years.
Ectica Technologies: Modelling the tumor stroma
Cell-based assays in oncology, including 3D assays established using patient-derived tumor samples, often neglect the importance of controlling the interactions between tumor cells and the mesenchymal stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment. Ectica Technologies started as a developer of synthetic and animal-free hydrogel matrices and subsequently gained expertise in developing and characterising human primary stromal ex vivo cultures. Ectica’s systems are ideal to add cancer cells in artificial models of the human stroma which can be controlled and tuned to study tumorigenesis and metastasis. Ectica Technologies collaborates with cancer research institutes with the objective to advance functional precision medicine, and with CROs, biotech and pharma to support early oncology development projects.