Thanks for your questions!
We are testing both cancer and non-cancer drugs.
1. We agree, the reason we are using cell culture is because it is very fast and allows us to test many combinations at once. We have improved standard cell culture conditions and continue to do so to mimic the patient's brain as much as possible.
We confirm our results using in vivo mouse models where we have injected a patient's brain tumor cells into the mouse's brain.
2. Another great question, we prioritize the results based on safety first, then efficacy. Since these are exclusively approved therapies there is existing software that can predict toxicity interactions. We will also have a group of pharmacists that will validate the safety of the combinations.
3. This was one of the first hurdles we encountered after we started the company. The drugs we are testing are mostly off-patent generic drugs that are cheap for patients to buy directly without reimbursement from their insurance company.
If it is a more expensive drug, we can help the patient and their doctor appeal to get reimbursement on the rationale that the standard of care for grade 4 brain cancer is ineffective.
We will be starting a feasibility clinical trial as soon as we can for the purpose of publishing data on the safety and feasibility of this approach.
If you're using mouse models to confirm cell culture results, roughly how long does it take to go from receiving the tissue sample to sending out a report to the patient's physician?
What type of responses to your reports have you gotten from practicing oncologists?
1. We agree, the reason we are using cell culture is because it is very fast and allows us to test many combinations at once. We have improved standard cell culture conditions and continue to do so to mimic the patient's brain as much as possible.
We confirm our results using in vivo mouse models where we have injected a patient's brain tumor cells into the mouse's brain.
2. Another great question, we prioritize the results based on safety first, then efficacy. Since these are exclusively approved therapies there is existing software that can predict toxicity interactions. We will also have a group of pharmacists that will validate the safety of the combinations.
3. This was one of the first hurdles we encountered after we started the company. The drugs we are testing are mostly off-patent generic drugs that are cheap for patients to buy directly without reimbursement from their insurance company.
If it is a more expensive drug, we can help the patient and their doctor appeal to get reimbursement on the rationale that the standard of care for grade 4 brain cancer is ineffective.
We will be starting a feasibility clinical trial as soon as we can for the purpose of publishing data on the safety and feasibility of this approach.