Insert Therapeutics, Inc., now Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

company that uses

nanobiotechnology Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blank ...

specializing in therapeutic agents that are conjugated, to facilitate and enhance

drug delivery Drug delivery involves various methods and technologies designed to transport pharmaceutical compounds to their target sites helping therapeutic effect. It involves principles related to drug preparation, route of administration, site-specif ...

. The small company was founded in 2000, is located in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, and is owned by

Arrowhead Research Corporation An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. T ...

. The conjugates consist of a

cyclodextrin Cyclodextrins are a family of cyclic oligosaccharides, consisting of a macrocycle, macrocyclic ring of glucose subunits joined by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Cyclodextrins are produced from starch by enzyme, enzymatic conversion. They are used in ...

-containing polymer (Cyclosert) that acts as a drug delivery system, and a linked medication, such as a chemotherapeutic drug of already proven efficacy.IT-101 trial
/ref> The size of the polymer is designed to “fit” the specific target, as vessels in a neoplasm allow for leakage of different sizes of polymers, as in healthy tissue. The leaked conjugates are concentrated in the target area. As a result, chemotherapeutic activity is locally enhanced, while general side effects are decreased. At least one of their conjugates, IT-101, has been investigated in a

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

City of Hope National Medical Center City of Hope is a private, non-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate school located in Duarte, California, United States. The center's main campus resides on of land adjacent to the boundaries of Duarte and Irwindale, California ...

References

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External links

Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
was Insert Therapeutics, Inc.
Cerulean Pharma, Inc.
IT-101 licensee Biotechnology companies of the United States