MU College of Veterinary Medicine to
Partner with Cancer Drug Maker
Study Will Determine Safe Doses for Dogs

Veterinary oncologists at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine will begin testing a nanoparticulate version of a drug that is used to treat cancer in humans to determine safe and effective doses for dogs. The drug, Nanotax®, is a fine-particle form of paclitaxel, a drug which has been used for approximately 30 years as a first line of treatment in ovarian, lung, breast and colon cancer in people. The new drug is a safer formulation, said Dr. Kim Selting, assistant teaching professor of oncology at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.

“This drug allows us to circumvent the side effects of the formulation that is currently available,” Selting said. “The side effects of paclitaxel in dogs are almost unbearable.” Nanotax® is manufactured by CritiTech, Inc., a Lawrence, Kan.- based pharmaceutical company. Researchers there determined that if they could make paclitaxel into smaller (nano) particles, they could stabilize the particles and suspend them in a simple saline solution. Saline is much more easily tolerated than the harsh solution which causes severe reactions that is used in the current formulation of paclitaxel.  Also, nanoparticles may offer greater efficacy by allowing direct delivery into tumor cells.

Once the drug is approved for clinical trials, Selting said she anticipates it could be used as a weapon against the most common forms of tumors in dogs, such as those of bone, lymph and skin, as well as tumors that correlate with the type of cancers it is used to treat in humans, including lung and reproductive organs.

Dr. Charles Decedue, CritiTech, Inc. senior research fellow, said clinical trials of the drug for humans are already under way at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

The partnership between CritiTech and the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine is made possible through funding from the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute, which works to advance life sciences research, commercialization and workforce development by fostering relationships between the academic and private sectors; assisting collaborative research efforts; managing fundraising and marketing activities; advocating for life sciences; and providing support to economic development and technology transfer and commercialization organizations.

Return to News and Events home