A Majorcan leads a project to test a new cancer drug

PalmaThe Majorcan biochemist Miquel F. Segura Ginard leads an ambitious European project that aims to open a new avenue in the treatment of childhood cancer. From the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Segura coordinates PHOENIX, an initiative funded with 8.5 million euros by the European Union that will promote the first pediatric clinical trial with the experimental drug ibrilatazar.

The project's objective is to evaluate this medication in children and adolescents with neuroblastoma in relapse or resistant to treatment, as well as in other aggressive solid tumors. Each year, more than 6,000 minors are diagnosed with this type of tumor in Europe, and about a thousand are considered high-risk, with few or no therapeutic alternatives.

The drug, known as Ibrilatazar, has been developed by the Catalan biotechnology company AbilityPharma and until now had only been tested in adults with pancreatic, lung, and endometrial cancer, with good results in tolerance and efficacy. Now, for the first time, it will be extended to the pediatric population.

The trial, scheduled for next year, will include about fifty patients between 6 months and 18 years of age with no other therapeutic options. The treatment will be combined with chemotherapy or immunotherapy to check if it can enhance its effect without increasing toxicity, one of the major concerns in pediatric oncology.

Segura highlights that this step is the result of many years of laboratory research. His team has participated in studying the drug's mechanism of action, which acts by inducing autophagy and promoting the selective death of tumor cells, while also preserving healthy ones and thus reducing side effects compared to conventional chemotherapy.

The PHOENIX project brings together 13 institutions from 6 European countries and places VHIR and Balearic research talent at the center of a pioneering effort to find more effective and less aggressive treatments against childhood cancer. An initiative that could represent new hope for many families.