Shutterstock
Carthera, a spin-off from Sorbonne University founded by Pr Alexandre Carpentier, and developer of SonoCloud, an innovative ultrasound-based medical device to treat a wide range of brain disorders, announces the signing of a strategic collaboration with Accord Healthcare Limited, a leading pharmaceutical company, for the supply of carboplatin. The financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.
The partnership covers the development and supply of carboplatin by Accord Healthcare to Carthera in the coming years. Carboplatin is a core component of Carthera’s SonoCloud solution for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM). With this agreement, Carthera strengthens the profile of its SonoCloud system, facilitating the regulatory approval process, and securing the supply of carboplatin for its trials and subsequent commercialisation.
Carthera’s SonoCloud is a proprietary implantable device designed to open the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPU). rGBM is the first clinical indication that could benefit from the SonoCloud technology. Gliobastoma is a lethal and devastating form of brain cancer with a median survival rate of around 15 months after diagnosis. SonoCloud is intended to facilitate effective delivery of chemotherapy to brain tumours to improve treatment efficacy.
Carthera has recently submitted its registration trial in rGBM to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EU competent authorities. This pivotal trial will evaluate the clinical benefit, in terms of overall survival, of the SonoCloud-9 system, when used to open the BBB after carboplatin chemotherapy administration.
“We are delighted to enter into this agreement with Accord Healthcare and to reinforce our relationship as we develop our SonoCloud technology,” said Frédéric Sottilini, chief executive officer of Carthera. “With Accord’s expertise in the development of registration portfolios for various pharmaceutical products, we are strengthening our chances of obtaining marketing authorisation in the next few years for our SonoCloud device in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma. We look forward to working together to advance our promising technology and to help patients with this very debilitating, and all too often fatal, disease.”
Accord is the Marketing Authorisation Holder (MAH) of carboplatin products. This collaboration with Carthera directly aligns with Accord’s focus on ensuring that patients have access to high quality medicines at the point of need.
“We are excited to work with Carthera to extend our carboplatin franchise into the treatment of glioblastoma, a devastating disease with significant unmet medical needs, where clinicians and patients have seen little improvement in its management,” said Alex Falgas, VP Business Development & Portfolio, Europe & MENA at Accord Healthcare. “We remain dedicated to enabling the supply of innovative products and improving patient outcomes.”