Cancer’s Next-Gen Smart Bomb: Who Will Be First To Weaponize?

While innovations in drug discovery occupy center stage in the battle against cancer, it is the obscure mechanics of drug delivery that may have the edge in attacking – selectively, with laser-like precision – the mutant cell growth that leads to lethal tumors. New platform technologies linked to improved understanding of the genetic origins of most cancers are driving the creation of engineered protein antibodies that can be weaponized with toxins to single out cancer cells and kill them. The precise targeting of cancerous cells carries significant benefit to patients, minimizing the dangerous side effects of scorched earth chemotherapies, controlling the collateral damage to healthy tissue and raising the overall tolerability of a more potent treatment regimen.

The concept of using antibodies to fight cancer cell proliferation has been around for more than a decade, with two products currently in commercial use: Seattle Genetics Inc.'s Adcentris...