SwRI, MBF Therapeutics sign exclusive license for proprietary drug delivery system

Treatment platform to explore cancer vaccine for animal health

May 9, 2019 – San Antonio, TX – Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has licensed its patented calcium phosphate nanoparticle delivery system exclusively to MBF Therapeutics (MBFT) to develop advanced immunotherapeutic treatments for canine melanoma.

SwRI holds two U.S. patents for its calcium phosphate nanoparticle (CaPNP) drug delivery system.

The non-toxic, biocompatible drug delivery vehicle safely dissolves under specific conditions. MBFT will conduct clinical trials of an advanced immunotherapeutic vaccine to prevent and treat cancer in “man’s best friend” and eventually other companion animals and livestock.

“We have successfully encapsulated various active pharmaceutical ingredients in this formulation and demonstrated controlled release,” said SwRI Senior Research Scientist Dr. Hong Dixon. “The material safely and effectively dissolves under the right conditions to directly deliver the therapeutic to its target. In drug delivery, nanoparticles can carry a positive or negative charge to deliver the therapeutic into the targeted cell. SwRI is able to apply different surface charges on this vehicle as needed to enhance drug delivery. We anticipate working with MBF on future therapeutics and applications.”

MBF Therapeutics currently plans to incorporate SwRI’s technology to develop vaccines for canine cancer therapeutics. More than 100,000 dogs are affected by canine melanoma every year.

“We are very excited to be able to use SwRI’s proprietary CaPNP technology as the core delivery system for our cancer and infectious disease vaccines. We believe that these will provide us with an optimal non-viral system that provide us the best means of delivering our innovative products,” said Thomas Tillett, CEO of MBF Therapeutics. Added, Dr. Lorraine Keller, CSO of MBFT, “SwRI’s nanoparticles are the ideal delivery vehicles for our immunotherapeutic vaccines. Beyond this agreement, we look forward to working with SwRI on other projects that will combine SwRI’s expertise in product formulation and MBFT’s checkpoint inhibitor portfolio to create effective and durable immunotherapeutic vaccines for animal health.”

For more information, visit pharmdev.swri.org or contact Tracey M.S. Whelan, +1 210 522 2256, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228-0510.

About MBF Therapeutics: MBFT (www.mbftherapeutics.com) MBFT is a clinical-stage animal health company developing and commercializing proprietary checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy technology for cancer and infectious diseases. T-cell activation precisely targets selected antigens associated with cancer cells or infectious pathogens while preventing T-cell exhaustion, thus, yielding a durable cell-mediated immunity. Exclusively licensed from the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, PA, and combined with a proprietary nonviral delivery system, this is a platform technology from which multiple innovative products can be developed for veterinary use where cellular antigens are well defined.

About SwRI: SwRI is an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organization based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 2,600 employees and an annual research volume of more than $583 million. Southwest Research Institute and SwRI are registered marks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For more information, please visit www.swri.org.