Fluicell's CEO Carolina Trkulja and CTO Gavin Jeffries, together with board member Owe Orwar and researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Oblique Therapeutics have identified new ways for potential drugs to bind to the G13D mutation of the protein KRAS, a mutation that is common in colorectal cancer. The discovery is the result of a long-standing collaboration under the leadership of Karolinska Institutet and Oblique Therapeutics and demonstrates the high degree of innovation and scientific competence that characterizes Fluicell's research team.
"Through this research collaboration with prominent partners, we clearly demonstrate the innovative power of Fluicell's team and our ability to translate ingenuity into real opportunities for drug development that, in this case, can change the lives of cancer patients worldwide. The experience that scientific collaborations like this bring enable us to further strengthen our extensive research expertise, not least within cancer and cancer screening models", comments Carolina Trkulja, CEO of Fluicell.
Oncogenic KRAS consists of several mutations that are very prevalent in multiple forms of severe cancer. Despite its clinical significance, attempts to develop drugs targeting KRAS have so far only been successful in a limited number of cases. Using advanced technology for protein structure determination and antibody technology, the researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Fluicell and Oblique Therapeutics AB have now successfully identified possible binding sites in the KRAS G13D mutation that potentially can be targeted using multiple drug modalities. The results are published in the research journal Scientific Reports.
A strongly contributing factor to the research breakthrough has been AbiProt, a technology for identifying hard-to-reach drug targets using antibodies invented by Fluicell's CEO Carolina Trkulja and board member Owe Orwar in 2015. The technology, which is currently owned by Oblique Therapeutics AB, has a wide range of applications in drug development and, in addition to cancer, can also be used to identify drug candidates in areas such as pain.
"On a personal level, I am especially that the AbiProt has played a significant role in the breakthrough. The same spirit and drive that is behind that platform and that has made this discovery possible can also be found all over Fluicell's Nexocyte platform, which breaks new ground in regenerative medicine and drug screening", Carolina Trkulja concludes.
The article Novel druggable space in human KRAS G13D discovered using structural bioinformatics and a P-loop targeting monoclonal antibody is available from Scientific Reports: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-70217-9