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ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Arrogene: Slick chemistry from slime

Arrogene's cancer nanoconjugates active only inside tumor cells

January 24, 2011 8:00 AM UTC

Most polymer-based nanoparticles in development to deliver cancer drugs are not covalently bound to the drug. These products carry risks of toxicity because the therapeutic agent could be released early if the nanoparticle degrades before reaching the tumor. To overcome this problem, Arrogene Nanotechnology Inc. is developing a polymer scaffold that covalently links to both tumor-targeting molecules and therapeutic drugs, thereby rendering the therapeutic agents inactive until they are inside the tumor cell.

Arrogene's platform is based on a nontoxic, nonimmunogenic poly(beta-l-malic) acid (PMLA; polycefin) polymer, which is derived from the slime mold Physarum polycephalum...