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almost 6 million dogs About 200 dogs are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States, but there aren’t many treatment options. Most chemotherapy treatments in veterinary medicine are human drugs repurposed for dogs and cats, with mixed results.
“Chemotherapy is toxic and expensive,” says Adrian Sacks, CEO, president, and co-founder of Vetigenics, a clinical-stage veterinary medicine biopharmaceutical company. “Some pet owners may be willing to invest $10,000 in chemotherapy. The problem is, their dog won’t live very long — maybe a year, maybe less — and the dog’s quality of life isn’t very good.”
Chemotherapy for pets is also hard to access: Because it’s toxic and requires special handling, it’s usually administered by veterinary oncologists, of which there are only 350. Expert Nationwide.
These and other obstacles have prevented most pharmaceutical companies from entering the canine cancer treatment market, despite a significant gap in the market.
VetiGenix is hoping to change that by developing targeted antibody therapies for pets that are more affordable and can be administered by veterinarians.
“[Our work]builds on successful work in humans,” Sachs said, “and once we find targets that are successful in humans, we will look at the relevance to treating similar diseases in dogs and cats.”
The company was originally founded to develop canine research antibodies for comparative oncology through a National Cancer Institute Small Business Innovation Research Award, and is now working to develop practical therapeutics for pets as well.
“We want our medicines to be cost-effective for pet owners,” Sacks said. “Our hope is that immunotherapy will be offered by veterinary practitioners as palliative care to extend a dog’s quality of life.”
Entering the antibody market
Antibody therapies have been highly successful in both humans and animals, most notably Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda, the world’s best-selling drug. Scrape together $25 billion in 2023.
But when it comes to animal cancer, the market is sluggish.
“Cancer isn’t a big opportunity for an animal’s health. Pain and itch? They’re a big opportunity,” Sachs said.
For example, CytoPoint, a monoclonal antibody therapy developed by animal health company Zoetis for atopic dermatitis in dogs, “A huge hit.” In the pharmaceutical industry, the term is defined by drugs with sales exceeding $1 billion, while in the animal health industry it is used only for treatments that bring in more than $100 million in revenue each year.
“I think this drug will do over $1 billion in sales this year,” Sacks said. “That’s unheard of in animal medicine.”
While human chemotherapy can be adapted for use in dogs and cats, this is not the case with antibody therapy.
“Immunotherapy is species-specific. You can’t give a human antibody like CTLA-4 or PD-1 to a dog because the dog will reject it,” Sacks says.
Instead, Vetigenics’ platform technology enables the generation of species-specific antibody therapeutics for chronic diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. The company’s two lead products are an anti-CTLA-4 mAb, which is being studied in canine oral melanoma, and an anti-PD-1 mAb for canine urothelial carcinoma. Both are in pilot clinical trials. The company aims for regulatory approval of both by 2027.
“More and more human-related companies are seeing the value of pet dogs in conducting preclinical research.”
Adrian Sachs
CEO, President and Co-Founder of Vetigenics
BetiGenix is also developing antibody treatments for canine lymphoma, feline squamous cell carcinoma and canine obesity.
In addition to its own pipeline, Vetigenics produces antibodies for strategic partners such as: Merck Animal Healthrecently launched a canine monoclonal antibody. GilvetomabIt treats dogs with mast cell tumors and melanomas.
Barriers still exist
Merck’s Gilvetomab is entering the monoclonal antibody cancer market for dogs, but has yet to Relatively expensive treatment According to BetiGenics, the drug is in limited supply. Instead, the company is developing alternative delivery methods to make these cancer treatments more cost-effective.
Zoetis is taking a similar approach with drugs such as Cytopoint and Sorencia, a once-monthly injectable monoclonal antibody therapy for osteoarthritis in cats.
“These drugs are used by veterinary general practitioners; they’re very familiar with these drugs,” Sacks says, “so with the success that Zoetis has already demonstrated, we want to do the same with cancer treatments and give that back to veterinary general practitioners.”
There are several other reasons why pharmaceutical companies have not made significant inroads into animal oncology.
“Even though animal health is a different product, there are a lot of human companies that don’t want to get into animal health because they feel it will negatively impact their pricing power,” Sachs said. Big cost difference The price difference between the “same” drugs for humans and animals has already sparked a backlash and could pressure pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices of treatments.
Another hurdle is the regulatory path for animal health: While some veterinary drugs are approved by the FDA, biologics that act through the immune system, including Vetigenics’ two flagship products, are regulated by the USDA.
“They don’t have the expertise,” Sachs said of human health companies. “The process is different, and they don’t do business with the USDA at all.”
Still, the field of comparative oncology is growing, and Sacks hopes that will lead to more and better treatments for humans and animals.
“More and more human-related companies are seeing the value of pet dogs in conducting preclinical research,” Sachs said.
