Atossa Therapeutics enters sponsored research agreement with Weill Cornell

Atossa Therapeutics announces a strategic, sponsored research agreement with Weill Cornell Medicine to study the potential of inducing estrogen receptor expression in triple-negative breast cancer. The goal of this research is to determine if treating TNBC with extracellular vesicles carrying the ER will convert the tumor to ER+ and render it sensitive to treatment with Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators, including Atossa’s proprietary (Z)-endoxifen. The research project will be led by David Lyden, M.D., Ph.D., the Stavros S. Niarchos Professor in Pediatric Cardiology and Director of the Department of Pediatrics’ Physician Scientist Training Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Lyden’s laboratory is focused on the molecular pathways activated by tumor extracellular vesicle uptake at the metastatic site and identifying potential therapeutic targets to thwart metastasis. His work has led to a new understanding of how primary tumor cells dictate their own metastases, by decoding how cancer-derived extracellular vesicles mediate intercellular communication. Most recently, Dr. Lyden has identified specific extracellular vesicle subpopulations and discovered a new subset of particles known as exomeres, which collectively have distinct functional roles in the systemic effects of cancer.