Cancer research could get some major breakthrough if Incyte Corp. is able to build upon its significant finding i.e. IDO enzyme. The company is working on an experimental drug that restricts IDO and it has managed to get the support of four other companies as they have been impressed by the research that Incyte has done.
Incyte Corp. is developing an experimental cancer drug which revolves around targeting the IDO enzyme, Bloomberg reported. The small company based in Wilmington, Delaware has also attracted the attention of four large cancer treatment drug makers. They include Merck & Co. and the four will be collaborating with Incyte for further study.
Notably, IDO is an enzyme that protects the fetus from the immune system of the mother and if it goes dysfunctional, it could lead to death. This is because then it starts shielding the harmful tumor. The researchers at Incyte are targeting this very quality of the IDO enzyme and trying to find a solution that prohibits the IDO. In future, the scientists hope to create a treatment strategy that would make the tumor vulnerable and help the cells fighting infection to kill the cancerous tumors.
Though the study is still in early stages, the scientists have a strong feeling that the drug that they are developing might become the standard care for melanoma treatment in the coming years. What has given a boost to the research is the response it received at the recently-held meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology at Chicago. The results of the study that were presented at the conclave appeared to be promising.
They ratified the earlier studies of Incyte that said that adding its drug epacadostat to other oncology drugs could enhance the effectiveness of the latter and the increase in side effects would also be pretty less. The good news is that such a drug could become marketable as the scientists are waiting for the final results of the study that would give approval to the combination of the two.
