We kill cancer. Selectively.
Rapid PhotoTherapy: Precision in a day.
Imagine treating cancer with light — in just one day.
We’re developing a therapy that targets tumors with unmatched precision, sparing healthy tissue.
For patients who now face disfiguring surgery — or have no treatment options at all.
WHAT DO WE DO ?
At Lumox, we developed Rapid PhotoTherapy: a potent anticancer therapy with minimal side effects. Achieving this level of safety is attributed to two levels of selectivity:
-
Nanobodies: Derived from llamas, nanobodies serve as targeting tools, guiding light-activatable drugs directly to cancer cells.
- Local Activation: The therapy uses local drug activation by exposing the tumor site to harmless light.
This innovative approach has undergone extensive validation in preclinical models and is currently undergoing successful experimentation in the veterinary clinic. The results are promising, showcasing robust antitumor activity coupled with a notable absence of side effects.
WHO ARE WE ?
Lumox is proud to be an Utrecht University spin-off company, derived from the group of Associate Professor Sabrina Oliveira. With our technology, we want to cure cancer patients without side effects. The first indication in which we will demonstrate our technology is head and neck cancer.
· The Technology ·
Head and Neck Cancer
· How It Works ·
1.
Nanobodies bind to cancer cells
Delivering light-activatable drugs to the tumor
2.
We shine harmless light at the tumor
To locally activate the light-activatable drugs
3.
Cancer cells are destroyed. Selectively.
Healthy cells are spared due to dual-selectivity.
· Core Team ·
Irati Beltrán Hernández
Studied Biotechnology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and obtained her PhD at Utrecht University in Sabrina Oliveira’s group, on the topic of using Rapid PhotoTherapy for cancer. She then stayed in the group as a postdoctoral researcher and has been working on the development of this therapy towards the clinic for over 7 years now.
