Researchers from the IQS Pharmaceutical Chemistry Group have been working for ten years in the search for specific drugs for the treatment of four of the most aggressive types of cancer. Its activity focuses on tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Dr José I. Borrell, Dr Carlos Semino, Dr Roger Estrada and Dr Raimon Puig de la Bellacasa
When we speak of cancer we all know that it is one of the leading causes of death in the world, with scientists all over the world dedicating efforts to combat it. The term cancer is very broad: it includes more than 200 types of different diseases that could be considered independent diseases due to their root causes, evolution and specific treatments. In spite of it all, all the variants have a common denominator: uncontrolled cellular replication.
Therefore, there are very diverse ways to fight these diseases and infinite approaches to the different treatments. One of them is known as treatment through the use drugs known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors. These receptors are present in the cells involved in the development of carcinogenic processes when the cells suffer from anomalies and start to replicate uncontrollably.
Researchers from the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Group (GQF) at IQS have been working for ten years on searching for specific drugs to treat different types of cancer, focused on tyrosine kinase inhibitors as the principal axis of the investigations. The researchers from the GQF, with Dr José I. Borrell, Full Professor at the IQS School of Engineeringas the coordinator, work on research for treatments for four different types of cancer, contributing their expertise in different scientific disciplines (molecular design, organic synthesis and biology) and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams from companies and prestigious hospital research centres.
All throughout this time of study and research, the GQF group at IQS has licensed three molecules with biological activity in these areas.
Four areas of research
The first area covers ZAP-70 inhibitors (Zeta-chain-Associated Protein kinase 70), related to research for leukaemia treatments. The principal investigator for this project is Dr Roger Estrada, an expert in Computational Chemistry. The project is carried out in collaboration with the renowned Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO), with funding from the Spanish Health Research Fund (FIS).
The second area is focused on obtaining specific drugs to treat lung cancer. This project, led by Dr Raimon Puig de la Bellacasa, is carried out in collaboration with Pangaea Oncology and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, IDIBELL. This project has received funding from the 2015 Collaboration CHALLENGES Programme of the Ministry of Economy.
The third area of research, led by Dr Borrell and Dr Estrada, is focused on researching new therapies for triple-negative breast cancer that is resistant to conventional chemotherapy treatments. This line of research, carried out with the group's own funds, is conducted in collaboration with the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).
Finally, the last area, led by Dr Borrell and Dr Carlos Semino, experts in biology and tissue engineering, respectively, as principal investigators, focuses its research on new multitarget inhibitors to treat pancreatic cancer, which is also conducted in collaboration with IDIBELL. This project is funded by the 2019 Societal CHALLENGES programme of the National Research Agency.
Pharmaceutical Chemistry Group
The Pharmaceutical Chemistry Group (GQF) at IQS forms part of the IQS Tech Transfer-URL division and is an agent accredited by TECNIO, a seal that the Government of Catalonia awards through ACCIÓ, to identify where differential technology can be found in Catalonia, the providers who offer it and the facilitators who participate in the tech and knowledge transfer process.
