Keith Potent
Monash University, Australia
Title: First in human report of intravenous infusion of Metavec (synthetic bacteriophage delivering genetic cargo) in a patient with metastatic ovarian cancer
Biography
Biography: Keith Potent
Abstract
We present a first in human case of a 50 year-old patient with end-stage metastatic ovarian cancer infused with a novel, intravenously administered, synthetically engineered bacteriophage-based gene therapy (Metavec) for metastatic solid malignancies. Compared to mammalian virus-based delivery vehicles, bacteriophage-based vectors bring many preferable features for treatment in humans. Their genomes have been extensively sequenced and with modern technologies, they are relatively malleable allowing them to be extensively modified. Unlike mammalian viruses, bacteriophages are not natural pathogens to humans yet their capsid can have equivocal cargo carrying capacity. To the authors’ best knowledge, no other bacteriophage-based applications have succeeded with intravenous administration. This advance in nanotechnology and novel approach could revolutionize medical care. The patient we discuss received a dose-escalating regime up to 1x1011 particles per dose, three times a week for three weeks. The infusions were very well tolerated. Symptoms include nausea, low-grade fever and also discomfort in areas where larger tumors were present. Post-infusion investigations included serum biochemistry, serum tumor markers and computed tomography. The paradigm shift, results and discussion will be presented.