PEEL Therapeutics Continues Rapid Development of Medicines that Merge Nature and Technology
PEEL Therapeutics, Inc., an emerging biotech company based both in Utah (United States) and Haifa (Israel), merges nature and technology to develop medicines that provide hope to human and animal cancer patients. Animal Cancer Foundation’s early-research funding to PEEL Therapeutics CEO and Founder, Joshua Schiffman, MD, a pediatric oncologist at the University of Utah, Huntsman Cancer Institute, laid the foundation that is allowing the research to rapidly advance in the PEEL laboratory. Dr. Schiffman says, “ACF’s on-going support quickly advances drug development, bringing hope to humans and animals worldwide.”
- ACF’s early-funding for the investigation of Elephant P53 Lipid Nanoparticles (EP53-LNPs) designed to deliver the natural cancer resistance protein found in elephants has now entered pre-clinical studies. PEEL scientists have begun work with the inventor of the MRNA LNP delivery system, the delivery system used for vaccines against COVID-19, to develop EP53-LNPs as new medicines to treat both people and animals with cancer.
- ACF’s rapid-response funding for PEEL during COVID-19 to develop Neutrophil Targeted Peptides (NTPS), small proteins that are present in all newborns that block inflammation from Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), also continues to progress. PEEL is developing first-in-class medicines harnessing the power for the NTPs to remove the NETs that blockade cancer tumors and prevent treatment from reaching the intended target. The NTPs are designed to stop inflammation, a complication of COVID-19 and cancer, and decrease the incidence of clots without causing additional bleeding risk.
On the horizon, PEEL is initiating a first-in-human clinical trial for PEEL -224, a medication that originates from a leaf stem used for more than 2,000 years in Eastern Traditional Chinese medicine. By engineering this new cancer medication, PEEL scientists are hoping to avoid chemotherapy resistance that has been an issue in treating human and animal patients.