| Grant ID | DP220043 |
| Awarded On | August 17, 2022 |
| Title | Oral Amifostine as an upper GI Tract Radioprotectant for Effective Radiotherapy Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer |
| Program | Product Development Research |
| Award Mechanism | Seed Awards for Product Development Research |
| Institution/Organization | Xerient Pharma Inc. |
| Principal Investigator/Program Director | Cullen Taniguchi |
| Cancer Sites | Pancreas |
| Contracted Amount | $2,934,737 |
| Lay Summary |
Pancreatic cancer is almost always fatal and is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat because it often cannot be removed by surgery and shrinking the tumors by conventional radiation is significantly limited because the pancreas is next to the intestines (specifically duodenum), which can be easily damaged during radiation treatment. Xerient is a startup dedicated to the development of an orally administered tablet that releases very efficient radioprotectant molecule in the duodenum. Xerient demonstrated that it is possible to repurpose an FDA-approved radioprotectant, and reformulate it in a tablet with a targeted-del... |