THIS IS HOW A DRUG IS TOWED TO THE BRAIN

Sometimes drugs need a special push to be more effective and reach its final destination: the brain. The three families of peptides (proteins) developed and patented by Gate2Brain fullfil that mission by acting as a shuttle or tractor so that the medicines act on this organ and treat pathologies located in it. This development, after years of work, has been possible thanks to a team of researchers and professionals from the Universitat de Barcelona, ​​the IRB Barcelona and the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, led by Meritxell Teixido, CEO of Gate2Brain.

“The first application of this technology will be for the treatment of pediatric cancer, when it is located in the brain. We are currently in the preclinical phase and the first clinical trial with pediatric patients is scheduled for 2026 at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, a reference center for childhood diseases”, explains Teixidó. However, the applications of these tractors are more ambitious and, as this researcher points out, they could serve to improve the transport of other drugs to the brain to address diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s: “The idea is to reach agreements with large pharmaceutical companies to test our technology with their drug candidates”, she adds.

 

Source: https://www.expansion.com