• 14 Oct 2023
• Admin
• News Article

Novocure signs agreement with Stanford University to set up TTFields Research Programme

NovoCure Ltd,  a global oncology company working to extend survival in some of the most aggressive forms of cancer through the development and commercialization of its innovative therapy, announced it has entered into an agreement with Stanford University to establish the Stanford School of Medicine Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) Research Program. The program is intended to support both preclinical studies and clinical trials with TTFields, electric fields that exert physical forces to kill cancer cells via a variety of mechanisms.

“We look forward to collaborating with Stanford Medicine to establish a research framework for preclinical and clinical development of TTFields,” said Moshe Giladi, Novocure’s Chief Science Officer. “Together, we will enable new discoveries into the mechanisms and treatment possibilities of TTFields, including new indications and uses of TTFields along with other therapies. We will pursue our mission to extend survival in some of the most aggressive forms of cancer while enhancing the education and scholarship of future clinicians and scientists.”

To enable novel preclinical research, Novocure will provide Stanford Medicine investigators with its portfolio of proprietary inovitro™, inovitro Live™ and inovivo™ TTFields preclinical systems which allows for exploring a vast range of research questions, starting from the fundamental physical mode of action all the way to most complex systemic biological outcomes. In addition, Novocure will provide devices for clinical studies.

At present, Stanford Medicine is a site for four clinical studies of TTFields therapy. This includes TRIDENT, a Novocure-sponsored multi-center study of TTFields therapy given concomitantly with radiation therapy and temozolomide in newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) patients, in which Stanford University Cancer Institute is one of 132 participating study centers. Investigator-sponsored trials at Stanford include multiple investigational uses, including a study of TTFields therapy for children with high-grade glioma or ependymoma and TTFields therapy for children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a study of TTFields therapy with hypofractionated chemoradiotherapy in newly diagnosed GBM, and a study of TTFields therapy with bevacizumab in treating patients with recurrent or progressive Grade 2 or 3 meningioma.

In addition, Stanford is home to a preclinical study of the efficacy of TTFields in medulloblastoma.“With this initiative, we will establish a research infrastructure for preclinical and clinical development of TTFields and of potential new indications and combination therapies using TTFields,” said Michael Lim, M.D., Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford Medicine. “We hope that this collaboration will educate, bring together, and inspire a diverse group of leaders in medicine and science who will help further our mission to deliver outstanding patient-centered care and improve human health through discovery, innovation, and education.”

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are electric fields that exert physical forces to kill cancer cells via a variety of mechanisms. TTFields do not significantly affect healthy cells because they have different properties (including division rate, morphology, and electrical properties) than cancer cells. The multiple, distinct mechanisms of TTFields therapy work together to selectively target and kill cancer cells. Due to its multimechanistic actions, TTFields therapy can be added to cancer treatment modalities in approved indications and demonstrates enhanced effects across solid tumor types when used with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibition, or targeted therapies in preclinical models. TTFields therapy provides clinical versatility that has the potential to help address treatment challenges across a range of solid tumors.