Abu Dhabi has joined forces with a leading US biotechnology company to test a cutting-edge cancer treatment.
Clinical trials in the capital, being carried out by California-based BioSapien, aim to advance care for patients with colorectal cancer through a drug-delivery method called MediChip.
This is a 3D-printed biodegradable mesh measuring 2cm by 2cm that delivers the chemotherapy drug directly to the tumour before releasing it slowly, potentially making the treatment more effective.
BioSapien has said that its method could “revolutionise” how such drugs are delivered and limit the need for surgery.
The method also aims to cut side effects because the drugs will be targeted, instead of travelling throughout the body.
The company is recruiting across the region to create an initial cohort of six colorectal cancer patients who still have tumours following previous treatment.
If things go to plan, the trials, which could begin within weeks, will expand to around 40 patients.
Stepping up cancer fight
“Based on the data that we have, I personally feel 100 per cent confident in the safety profile of the product,” Dr Khatija Ali, BioSapien’s founder and chief executive, told The National.
“All of our results to date have shown tremendous safety results. Compared to IV [intravenous] chemo, where you end up having all sorts of systemic [body-wide], off-target effects, or dose-limiting toxicities, our product, just by the nature of its design and its mechanism, does not have any systemic effects.”
She said that reducing the need for major surgery could save patients from having to use a colostomy bag for the rest of their life. Also as the drug is targeted at the tumour site, less may be needed.
In a statement released to announce the trials, Dr Ali said the company aimed to “revolutionise how chemotherapy is delivered”.
Although MediChip is initially being developed to target colorectal cancer, BioSapien plans also to use it against other cancers.
It could potentially be used to treat many cancers with solid tumours, among them oesophageal cancer, lung cancer, and brain tumours.
The chips could, Dr Ali said, also be implanted to reduce the size of tumours before surgery to remove them, or to destroy any remaining cancer cells after such surgery.
BioSapien, which was founded in 2018 and is based in San Diego, is not developing the drugs used with the MediChip.
The chips are designed to degrade naturally inside the patient over about three months, although in the trials they will be taken out and replaced by new chips.
Dr Asma Ibrahim Al Mannaei, executive director of the health life sciences sector at Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health, said the authority wanted to speed access to “promising new therapies” while maintaining safety and scientific standards.
“The advancement of BioSapien’s Phase I clinical trial reflects the value of bringing together enabling regulation, research excellence and world-class healthcare infrastructure within a single ecosystem,” she said in a statement.
The statement described colorectal cancer as “a high priority” for the Department of Health, as it is among the most common types of cancer.
UAE ideal for trials
Assuming trials go well, the technology could be approved for commercial use in the UAE in the first quarter of 2028, Dr Ali said. Limited use in specific cases could begin in the final quarter of 2027.
Dr Ali, who was born in Saudi Arabia, said the company considered several locations for the trials, including Japan and India, but selected Abu Dhabi for multiple reasons.
These included, she said, a culture of innovation, a more favourable regulatory environment without excessive “red tape” and fast approvals to test new drugs without a lowering of standards. Cost was another factor.
“Doing a clinical trial in the UAE is relatively cheaper and more cost-effective than it is in the US, but without sacrificing the quality,” she said.
“What I mean by that is that you have large hospital networks like Cleveland Clinic, Burjeel Medical [City], PureHealth and others that are recognised worldwide, that have the same calibre, but at a low fractional cost.”
BioSapien has been working with a well-known cancer research and treatment centre in New York called Roswell Park, where the first batch of MediChips have been produced in a facility leased to BioSapien.
Roswell Park, which was founded in 1898, has also assisted BioSapien in its new drug submissions to the US Food and Drugs Administration, the US drugs regulator.
A firm called BA Sciences has carried out tests on the MediChips, including stability tests to confirm how long they will last.
Colorectal cancer, also referred to as bowel, colon or rectal cancer, typically affects individuals aged over 40, although cases among young people have become more common, according to the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
It is one of the most common cancers, and figures from the UK indicate that about 54 per cent of patients survive for 10 years or more.
Among the risk factors are not eating enough fibre, eating processed mat, being overweight or obese, smoking and drinking alcohol.
Aside from technologies of the kind BioSapien is testing, many other new methods to deliver cancer drugs in a more efficient and targeted way are being developed and used.
These include liposomes, which are tiny fat particles that contain the drug, and gold nanoparticles to which the drug is attached.
Often their small size of these particles enables them to penetrate deeply into tissues, and they may be used to deliver other types of drugs, such as antibiotics.