Cellectar Biosciences, Inc.

Platform

Improving Patient Outcomes Using Our Next-Generation Targeted Drug Delivery

There is a clear need for new treatments that reduce morbidities and extend the survival of cancer patients, particularly in later lines of cancer therapy. To that end, precision medicine and personalized cancer treatments are rapidly advancing. Cellectar’s precision delivery PLE platform is part of this evolution of targeted delivery technology. By combining our cutting-edge PLE technology with a variety of different molecules to create PDCs, we are at the forefront of a new era of targeted cancer treatments.

Selectively Delivering Novel Therapeutics to Cancer Cells

Our proprietary PLE delivery platform was deliberately engineered to have the ability to be conjugated (combined) with a wide variety of therapeutic molecules. To date, many different classes of compounds have been conjugated, including small molecule chemotherapeutics, radiotherapeutics and other molecules that utilize alternative therapeutic approaches.

SPECIFIC TARGETING OF CANCER CELLS
  • Phospholipid ethers (PLEs) provide specific targeting to cancer cells
  • Cancer cells have different metabolic needs than normal cells and this need leads to modification to the cell membrane
  • Unlike healthy cells, cancer cells have a larger number of specialized areas known as lipid rafts
  • Our PLEs are optimized to seek out and exclusively attach to these lipid raft regions within the tumor membrane
  • Our PLEs then gain direct entry into the cancer cells to kill it from the inside

UNIQUE MECHANISM OF ENTRY AND UPTAKE INTO THE CELLS
  • Lipid rafts allow a multitude of PDCs to attach to the cancer cell membrane simultaneously
  • After enough PDCs attach to the lipid raft, it undergoes transmembrane flipping which delivers the cancer-killing molecule directly inside the tumor
  • PDCs will then be transported along the golgi apparatus network and accumulate around mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum

CONTROLLED RELEASE
  • Entry via lipid rafts and transmembrane flipping
  • Delivery directly to cytosol inside the tumor cell membrane
  • PDCs will accumulate along the golgi apparatus network and endoplasmic reticulum

Innovative Ideas and Versatile Chemistry Combine to Produce Next-Generation Linkers

Our linkers are designed to connect our proprietary PLE delivery platform to many different types of molecules (warheads). These linkers are specifically developed to securely attach the PLE and the warhead until the perfect moment when the PDCs are inside the cancer cells. Once inside the cancer cells, the linker is broken and the warheads are released to kill the tumor cell.

What Makes Our Platform Exceptional

Our platform takes advantage of a metabolic shift utilized by all tumor cell types in all stages of the tumor cycle. This means that our PDCs can target and gain intracellular access to most primary tumors, metastatic sites and cancer stem cells. This approach may enhance drug efficacy and simultaneously minimize side effects for patients.

No Reliance Upon Specific Molecular Targets

The PDC's mechanism of entry does not rely upon specific molecular targets that are required and essential to the success of other targeted cancer therapies. Other targeted therapies require specific molecular targets on the cell surface. These molecular targets occur in very small numbers on the surface of cancer cells often are not present in all the cells within a tumor and may not be on cancer stem cells or on any metastatic sites at all. This means a subpopulation of cancer cells will always remain despite the targeted nature of other therapies. Additionally, a targeted therapy designed for one type of cancer often will not work on other cancer types because the specific molecule being targeted does not exist on other tumor types. This is the case with Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC) whereby this 1:1 ratio result in delivering less than 1% of the cancer killing moiety to the tumor. Conversely, PDCs can target 100% of the tumor cells in a multitude of cancers in addition to delivering in excess of 25% of the cancer killing warhead directly to the cancer cells.

Diversity of Chemistry and Conjugation

PDCs offer the potential advantage of possessing the ability to combine with molecules in numerous ways, thereby increasing the types of molecules that can be used and delivered via the PDCs, directly to tumor cells.

Growing Multi-Asset Product Portfolio

We approach drug discovery and development in a way that allows us to efficiently design, research and advance product candidates as quickly and safely as possible. We have successfully advanced our lead PDC, iopofosine, into three clinical studies evaluating over ten disease indications. Additionally, we have initiated multiple collaborations and internal proprietary programs that are currently ongoing.

Product Pipeline

Posters & Publications

Learn more about the science and data behind our proprietary platform and programs.

Read Posters & Publications

Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations

We aim to balance internal research and product development with academic collaboration and corporate partnering to advance our PLE technology platform and promising pipeline of oncology product candidates.

Partnership Information