Title: ChemoGellTM - development of an intratumoural drug delivery platform
Speaker: Prof. Helena Kelly
Host: Prof. Zhiyuan Zhong
Time: October 21st , 2024 2:00 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 2108, Yunxuan Building
About Helena Kelly
Prof. Helena Kelly is a Professor of Pharmaceutics and Head of the School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences. A registered pharmacist, she graduated with a BSc (Pharm) from Trinity College Dublin and completed her PhD in hydrogel technology. After eight years in the pharmaceutical industry, she joined academia at RCSI in 2008. Since 2016, she has collaborated extensively with Soochow University.
Her research focuses on integrated solutions for complex healthcare issues, leading EU projects like AMCARE and DRIVE on hydrogel delivery systems. She invented ChemoGell?, a thermoresponsive hydrogel for intratumoral drug delivery, and co-founded OncoLize, which raised $1.7m to advance ChemoGell? for pancreatic cancer. Helena also explores methods to reverse hypoxia in solid tumors to enhance radiation sensitivity.
Abstract
ChemoGell? is a temperature sensitive hydrogel formulation designed to flow in a liquid like state at room temperature and solidify upon exposure to body temperature, while carrying a chemotherapy cargo. These physical properties make it well suited to application via minimally invasive delivery to hard-to-access tumour sites. This approach enhances treatment efficacy by increasing drug concentration and exposure time within tumors, overcoming barriers like stromal layers and poor vascularization.
Preclinical studies demonstrated ChemoGell?'s ability to carry cisplatin and paclitaxel, showing efficacy in lung cancer models and proving its feasibility as an injectable, localized delivery system. Current development focuses on treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a cancer with a low 5-year survival rate. In PDAC models, ChemoGell? loaded with gemcitabine showed promising results, improving survival, reducing tumor growth, and minimizing systemic toxicity.
