Craig A. Dionne, PhD, CEO of GenSpera, describes some of the drawbacks associated with common cancer treatments. Many types of drug therapies, like antiangiogenics and immunotherapies, may only be effective in 15-30% of patients. Chemotherapy can be effective in a greater percentage of patients, but causes damage to healthy tissue while destroying cancer cells. New research in cancer care focuses on creating targeted biochemical therapies that bypass healthy cells while eliminating cancerous growths.

GenSpera has developed a prodrug that can effectively attack any tumor with PSMA expression. This prodrug, named mipsagargin, carries a toxin (chemically-derived thapsigargin) harmlessly through the body until it finds a cell with the PSMA enzyme on its surface. The mipsagargin molecule then sheds its patented peptide and deposits the thapsigargin into the cell. This process destroys the cell from within while leaving the surrounding healthy tissue intact. Click here to view our video explanation of mipsagargin’s mechanism of action.

Craig A. Dionne, PhD
Chairman & CEO: GenSpera