Key Points
- The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) recently announced that it has awarded up to $46 million to SonALAsense to create new devices to treat blood cancers.
- SonALAsense, a biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary drug that selectively accumulates in cancer cells, will develop new sonodynamic therapy (SDT) devices for the project.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) recently announced that SonALAsense, a biopharmaceutical company, has been granted up to $46 million in funding for a new project titled, “Sonodynamic Therapy for Hematologic Malignancies.”
SonALAsense’s proprietary intravenous drug, SONALA-001, selectively accumulates in cancer cells. The active ingredient in SONALA-001 is aminolevulinic acid (ALA). Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is a process that uses ultrasound-producing devices to activate protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), which is a metabolite of SONALA-001. SonALAsense is the first company to advance SDT to clinical trials, for the treatment of high-grade gliomas in adults (NCT05370508), and diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas in children (NCT05123534). The newly funded project will develop a minimally- or noninvasive ultrasound treatment for leukemia and multiple myeloma using SDT combined with SONALA-001.
Some blood cancers (and other diseases) are currently being treated with an FDA-approved procedure called extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP). During ECP, blood is removed from the body, treated with ultraviolet light and drugs that become active when exposed to light, and then returned to the body. SonALAsense hopes to improve on the efficacy of ECP by infusing the patient with SONALA-001, effectively treating many more leukemic cells in a single pass through its new device than with the current ECP procedures, and to have fewer side effects.
“Using the ARPA-H funds, we will develop devices to activate SDT, wherein ultrasound produces light through sonoluminescence.” said Stuart Marcus, MD, PhD, Founder, Chief Scientific officer, and Chief Medical officer of SonALAsense. “Although we plan to use one of these devices in a way that is similar to the process of ECP, our devices will be customized for each patient, even accommodating children as small as newborns, who cannot be treated using current ECP methods. We are also planning to conduct the first phase of testing on companion canines with leukemia and multiple myeloma.”
The award process will continue to provide ongoing support the project only if predetermined milestones are met. If successful, the final SDT therapy would increase treatment efficacy, increase patient comfort, and decrease costs. The need for innovative therapies is urgent, as patients with some blood cancers currently survive less than two years.
“A noninvasive cancer treatment that is highly effective without debilitating side effects would be a revolution in the world of oncology,” said Amy Jenkins, PhD, ARPA-H Health Science Futures Mission Office Director, in the press release. “ARPA-H is boldly investing in this novel research area because we envision a future where cancers are treated more quickly and easily.”
The ARPA-H funding award was made through the agency’s Open Broad Agency Announcement (Open-BAA). All of the funded projects are listed on the ARPA-H awardee page.
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