Helsinn and the Scientific Centre of Monaco (CSM) have signed a collaboration agreement to support a research project aimed at developing pharmacological inhibitors for the most common form of kidney cancer: clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).
ccRCC is diagnosed in over 200,000 patients worldwide each year and the number of people affected continues to increase. The current five year survival rate for stage IV patients is only 10 to 20%.
Studies investigating neuropilins (NRP) reveal that they are over-expressed in several tumors. However, their inhibition is currently poorly exploited in oncology. This observation provided the rationale for further research into the potential of NRP inhibitors for the treatment of ccRCC. Conducted by PhD candidate Aurore Dumond, under the supervision of Dr Renaud Grépin and Dr Gilles Pagès, the research project is: " Targeting Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) and Neuropilin-2 (NRP-2) and their respective ligands, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C (VEGF-C) in ccRCC.
Under the terms of the agreement, Helsinn is sponsoring Ms. Dumond's doctoral thesis dissertation over the next three years.
"We are very pleased to have entered into this partnership with Helsinn as it allows us to pursue a novel area of research in what is an increasingly prevalent form of cancer worldwide", said Professor Rampal, president of the CSM.