Rejuvenix Technologies LLC of Perryville has patented a technology that aims to reduce side effects for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment by delivering drugs directly to tumors.
The technology uses liposomes, or tiny bubbles. The liposomes carry the chemotherapy drugs into a patient’s body and are triggered by radiation to release the drugs at the site of a tumor over about an eight-hour period. That means the rest of the patient’s body is less exposed to the drugs and the patient may experience fewer side effects.
Rejuvenix has applied for a $300,000 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant. Co-founder and CEO Joshua Phillips said the startup expects to hear back about that in September.
Rejuvenix was formed in 2016 and it has two other employees, co-founder Amanda Stolarz and Jay Gandy.
Right now, the company is using the $50,000 it received as a participant in Winrock International’s Delta I-Fund accelerator program to get closer to launching the technology Phillips said could be in hospitals within eight years. He expects the company to make money by selling or licensing the technology to drug companies. Liposomes are approved by the FDA, but it must approve this new way to use them, Phillips said.
He also said Rejuvenix is working now with leading cancer research hospitals, including the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, to start testing the technology.
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