By Brian Kaberline – Editor, Kansas City Business Journal
A KC-area animal health company reported that a new treatment for bone cancer in dogs tripled the survival time.
Elias Animal Health said that in a trial involving 15 dogs diagnosed with osteosarcoma, its Elias Cancer Immunotherapy treatment resulted in a median survival time of 415 days, compared with 134 days for dogs only undergoing surgery for treatment. Osteosarcoma is an aggressive cancer for which chemotherapy failures are common.
Olathe-based Elias’ ECI treatment involves using a dog’s own cancer cells to produce an immune response. T-cells produced to fight the cancer are extracted, multiplied and reinjected to boost the dog’s immunity system.
Elias said it is exploring the use of the treatment not only for osteosarcoma, but also for lymphoma and other cancers. The company is pursuing $5 million in financing for new trials and preparing products for market.
The science behind Elias’ treatment was developed by parent company TVAX Biomedical. TVAX, also based in Olathe, is conducting clinical trials for a product that could be used to treat brain cancer and glioblastomas.
