Dental School Researcher Gets Approval to Begin Clinical Trials for Cancer Therapy

Treatment Uses Protein Found in Oral Bacterium

A Rutgers startup founded by Rutgers School of Dental Medicine researcher Scott Kachlany received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a phase I clinical trial to treat cancer patients with a therapy based on his discovery that a protein produced by an oral bacterium can kill leukemia and lymphoma cells.

The approval clears the way for Kachlany’s company, Actinobac Biomed, to begin the trial in patients who have relapsed or refractory leukemia or lymphoma. Their experimental drug, Leukothera, has additionally proven effective in treating autoimmune diseases in animals, and Actinobac is also developing its use for that purpose.

Unlike many treatments for cancer, Leukothera rapidly kills cancer cells but does not compromise the immune system. “Doctors and patients often have to trade efficacy for safety. However, we hope to provide patients with a treatment option that has both a strong safety profile and robust efficacy,” said Kachlany, a professor in the dental school’s Department of Oral Biology and Actinobac’s chief scientist.

Clinical trials for Leukothera will begin with 24 patients but could be expanded to include an additional cohort of 20 patients or more if the response is positive, said Kachlany, who has been working on the treatment for nearly a decade. Because patients will receive Leukothera for a short time span of once a week for four weeks, he expects to gather data quickly. If Leukothera is effective, with minimal or no negative side effects, patients can continue “compassionate care” treatment with the experimental drug, said Kachlany.

The first phase of trials, which will take approximately two years to complete, will focus primarily on safety. The trial will be conducted at three sites, including Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. In the near future, Actinobac could also begin testing Leukothera in patients with other diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, Kachlany said.

Actinobac has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the New Jersey Health Foundation, and Kairos Ventures.