Panther Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing new methods for treating solid tumors that are difficult to manage with conventional approaches. Its mission is to create therapies that can be administered directly to the site of a tumor, a shift from traditional systemic treatments. This approach aims to improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with particularly challenging cancers.
The Sagittari Platform
Panther Therapeutics’ approach uses its Sagittari™ platform, a technology for localized drug delivery. This method contrasts with standard systemic therapies, such as intravenous chemotherapy, which circulate drugs throughout the entire body. The Sagittari™ platform functions like a targeted sprinkler system, delivering treatment directly where it is needed to concentrate therapeutic agents at the tumor site.
The Sagittari™ platform enables the creation of implantable and biodegradable products that provide sustained, direct delivery of drugs to a tumor. These products, such as a flexible film, are engineered to release a therapeutic agent over an extended period, for weeks or months. This design allows for the continuous administration of high concentrations of a drug directly at the cancer source, increasing the treatment’s impact.
A benefit of this localized delivery system is minimizing the side effects associated with systemic treatments. When drugs are administered intravenously, less than 1% reaches the tumor, while the remaining 99% can affect healthy tissues. By confining the therapeutic agent to the tumor’s vicinity, the Sagittari™ platform reduces systemic exposure, allowing for higher, more sustained drug concentrations at the target site than would be possible with traditional administration. The platform is also adaptable, capable of delivering various types of therapeutic agents, including chemotherapy drugs, proteins, and mRNA.
Targeted Diseases and Treatments
Panther Therapeutics is initially focusing its technology on cancers that are difficult to treat with conventional methods, particularly pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma. These diseases present unique challenges that the Sagittari™ platform is designed to address. Both cancers have biological barriers that limit the effectiveness of systemic drug delivery.
Pancreatic cancer is a primary target because its tumors are characterized by a dense stromal barrier, a thick layer of connective tissue that makes it difficult for drugs in the bloodstream to penetrate the tumor. By placing a drug-eluting product directly on the pancreatic tumor, the Sagittari™ platform can bypass this barrier. This allows for a high concentration of an agent, such as paclitaxel, to be maintained at the tumor site.
Glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, presents the challenge of the blood-brain barrier. This protective membrane prevents many chemotherapy drugs from passing from the bloodstream into brain tissue, restricting the types of drugs that can treat brain tumors. An implantable device that releases medication directly into the tumor site after surgical removal could overcome this obstacle, delivering treatment precisely where it is needed.
Development and Clinical Progress
Panther Therapeutics has advanced its lead product candidate, PTM-101, into clinical development for treating pancreatic cancer. PTM-101 is a proprietary, flexible film that is absorbed by the body and designed to deliver a continuous, high dose of the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel directly to the tumor area. The company is developing PTM-101 for patients with localized, non-metastatic pancreatic cancer.
In August 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for PTM-101. This allows Panther to proceed with a Phase 1b clinical study for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Earlier in 2024, data from a first-in-human study showed PTM-101 reduced tumor size and was well-tolerated, with two of three patients experiencing tumor volume reductions of over 40%.
The upcoming Phase 1b trial is a dose-escalation and expansion study that will be conducted at multiple sites. It will further assess the safety, tolerability, and anti-tumor activity of PTM-101 at different dose levels.
Company Origin and Leadership
Panther Therapeutics was founded in 2014, spinning out of research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and its Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. The technology for the company’s Sagittari™ platform was developed in the laboratories of Professor Elazer Edelman at MIT, with support from the Bridge Project, a collaboration between the Koch Institute and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. This academic origin provides a scientific basis for the company’s therapeutic approach.
The company is led by its co-founder and CEO, Dr. Laura Indolfi, who was instrumental in inventing the core technology during her time as a postdoctoral associate at the Harvard-MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. Dr. Indolfi has guided Panther from its inception, securing funding and building the leadership team. The other co-founders include Dr. Elazer Edelman and Dr. David Ting, bringing together expertise in materials science, medicine, and oncology.