Details of the innovative novel therapies reviewed by a dedicated expert committee, to accelerate the development of potential treatments for brain tumour patients, have been revealed.
The Brain Tumour Research Novel Therapeutics Accelerator (BTR-NTA) Committee met in London in November 2023 for the first time. The successful two-day meeting looked at three novel therapies, showcasing the need for expert guidance in the brain tumour research space to speed up the progress of new treatments, with the goal of improving outcomes for brain tumour patients.
Providing research groups with guidance on bringing their therapy to market effectively, preclinical study robustness, safety, clinical trial design, regulatory requirements, and commercialisation will help them position their therapeutic on a realistic path to clinical benefit for patients.
“What really stood out was the need. The accelerator is going to have a huge impact going forward.” - Dr Juanita Lopez, BTR-NTA committee member
The innovative therapies reviewed by committee members from the USA, Europe and UK, included GRACE, a surgically implanted device that delivers electric field therapy directly to the tumour margins following brain tumour removal.
Another project reviewed was MEMRISTIVE, an implantable therapeutic neural interface designed to slow the progression of malignant brain tumours. And the Committee also examined WISTERIAN, a study which aims to explore the effects of giving ADI-PEG20 in combination with radiotherapy prior to tumour resection surgery in newly diagnosed patients with radiologically diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM).
These potential treatments are still being develop in the lab, but the ultimate aim for these research groups is to launch these therapies into first in human trials for brain tumour patients.
“The programme provided a way for a small startup like us to interact with leading experts in the field and let us ask pertinent and important questions regarding various aspects of our device.” - Feedback from participant
Funded by Brain Tumour Research and launched in 2023 by the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM), the BTR-NTA is designed to identify and provide guidance on the potential barriers that researchers may face in progressing their work to the next stage of development. It offers bespoke feedback from academic and industry experts.
This year, the BTR-NTA programme will review up to eight further therapies and technologies across two meetings in May and November. Pre-applications for these review cycles are now open.
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