TriSalus’ clinical leadership team presented new preclinical data at the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting (11–16 June, Boston, USA). The data are the result of evaluations of the company’s immunotherapy platform, which integrates an investigational class C toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, SD-101, and the proprietary Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery (PEDD) method of administration to overcome critical treatment barriers that can prevent immunotherapeutic uptake in hard-to-treat tumours.
In one abstract presentation, TriSalus highlighted data that suggest the PEDD method was more effective in delivering SD-101 into liver tissue than direct needle injection. To further support these findings, TriSalus is collaborating with Massachusetts General Cancer Center (Boston, USA) on an investigator-initiated clinical trial to evaluate whether PEDD improves the delivery of radioactive microspheres during radioembolization treatment for liver cancer, compared to a standard microcatheter.
In a second abstract presentation at SIR 2022, TriSalus highlighted new data on the development of a transvenous approach for the regional treatment of pancreatic tumours, called pancreatic retrograde venous infusion (PRVI). This preclinical data are the first of their kind to demonstrate that the PRVI approach can improve uptake and tumour response for pancreatic tumours. Unlike the liver, using the arterial systemic for drug delivery in the pancreas poses significant anatomic challenges. TriSalus has developed a novel approach to leverage the PEDD method in venous branches using a new US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared device designed for highly targeted intrapancreatic delivery of SD-101.
“Patients with liver and pancreatic tumours can experience poor outcomes due to tumour-induced immunosuppression and high intratumoral pressure that often prevent therapeutics, such as immunotherapy drugs, from reaching their targets. Existing treatment approaches, including direct needle injections and intravenous immunotherapy alone, often fail to address these barriers in a comprehensive way. By engineering new approaches to meet these challenges, we may be able to improve the treatment paradigm for liver and pancreas tumour patients,” said Steven C Katz, chief medical officer at TriSalus.
