“They reveal a new therapeutic target for the treatment of blood cancers. The study, carried out by the researcher of the CONICET Gabriel Rabinovich and scientists from the Oxford University (in the United Kingdom), tested, both in in vitro and in vivo models, the effectiveness of an antibody developed by researchers from the Council to reverse the progression of myelofibrosis, an onco-hematological disease,” as the title titled. National Commission for Scientific and Technical Research the very important news that he announced. And it is no wonder: the research showed that the anti-Gal-1 monoclonal antibody developed in the Glycomedicine Laboratory of the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IBYME, CONICET-IBYME Foundation), directed by Rabinovich, achieved stop the progression of the neoplasia and reverse the pathological condition. And the finding was published in a top-level scientific publication: the magazine Science Translational Medicinefrom the group Science.
How did this joint work between Argentines and members of Oxford come about? The myelofibrosis It is a blood cancer, a disease for which patients begin to have mutations in their genes throughout life. When you reach the age of 60, that bone marrow (from which red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, that is, the cells that circulate in the blood, come out) becomes fibrous, which means that there are cells that begin to take the place. where blood cells should be growing and differentiating. They begin to bother, to scar that marrow, which becomes a hard marrow that prevents blood components from being produced. Result: anemia, alterations in red blood cells, in planets, in white blood cells.
“Two scientists from the University of Oxford, Beth Psaila and Adam Meadwho have been working for many years in the search for new drugs because the disease has a very limited number of treatments available, contacted me,” describes Gabriel Rabinovich. And complete: “They compared the bone marrow of a patient with this fibrosis with a normal bone marrow and in that comparison that they made both in animal models and in bone marrows from human organoids of patients they could see that there were four cells that played an important role. and that they had been described. When they began to explore what genes and proteins a bone marrow with myelofibrosis had, they found Galectin-1 (Gal-1), with which we have worked all our lives, since 1993. And that is why they contacted us ”.
The British specialists asked Rabinovich’s team tools to block Gal-1 and they appealed to their experience to be able to work together and finish that study. “It is a great pride. Them We send the antibody that we plan to take to the clinic and at Oxford they were able to validate it. “It is very important for us that they have been able to verify that the antibody works very well and even better than other known therapies.”
In Oxford, they not only verified that with the antibody developed by the Argentine team it was possible to block the development of spinal fibrosis, normalizing the production of blood cells, but they also noticed that the size of the spleen and liver of these patients (which in are generally very enlarged), becomes normal. Furthermore, they were able to verify that anti Gal-1 is a prognostic indicator of the evolution of the disease. In short, it is a new therapeutic target against this type of cancer.
Startup with Argentine science
The collaboration between both teams of researchers was always virtual, they have not yet met in person, but it will continue. “They want to support the development of our antibody, so well, a huge range of collaborations has opened up. As they are doctors, they want to get to the patients quickly, it’s like a foot on the accelerator, it pushes us and stimulates us a lot,” summarizes Rabinovich, and makes special mention of the entire Argentine work team and in particular Juan Manuel Pérez Sáezone of those responsible for the development of the anti Gal-1 monoclonal antibody.
Gabriel Rabinovich’s work on Galectins goes back decades, which has been worth publications in top-level scientific journals (the studies have been supported by more than 320 scientific articles in leading world journals) and have given rise to invention patents. Argentine scientists found that in a large number of cancers, tumor cells produce about ten times the normal levels of Gal-1 and that they use this protein to develop, metastasize, and prevent the body from eliminating them. Gal-1 favors all the mechanisms that have to do with tumor growth: it allows them to escape the immune system, create new blood vessels and migrate to form metastases. Hence the development of the anti Gal-1 antibody.
In August 2023, decades of work resulted in the launch of GALTECa Argentine technology-based company created by Gabriel Rabinovich together with colleagues from CONICET and professionals from different disciplines. The objective of GALTEC is the development of therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Currently the company It has almost no national subsidies, but it does have investorslike White Lyon. In the case of the laboratory, there are non-profit foundations that contribute, such as the Foundation, the Rene Baron Foundation, the Williams Foundation and even contributions from families, such as those of Ferioli, Ostry, Caravallo and Alfonzo.
Investigate today, in Argentina
News: In this complex context for both scientific research and public education, what has the work at GALTEC been like this year since its creation?
Gabriel Rabinovich: In this part I am very happy, it has been a great dream for us and it was a lot of effort over many years. Galtec is a biotechnology company that aims to translate discoveries over many years into pharmaceutical products and reach the population that processes them. And that implies a double job, because it is not the same as doing science because it requires a very great effort, new learning with new languages to be able to communicate with private investors and get the money necessary for developments. It is essential to try to be more ductile and versatile to be able to maintain the laboratory on the one hand, and on the other hand to move forward to be able to reach the patients.
News: And what stage are they at?
Rabinovich: We are putting a lot emphasis on product developmentbecause we already have ready the two platforms that we have been researching and working on, that of autoimmunity and that of cancer. We have come a long way in a year to have the two platforms ready in parallel for manufacturing with the idea of start clinical trials already in a year and a half, or two.
News: How do you see the reception of research works when people abroad know that they are Argentine developments?
Rabinovich: It’s very very good. The truth is that every time we go abroad, whether for research, to give lectures or to collaborate on other trials, people trust our science a lot. We publish a lot, in the best journals we can, we have validated and confirmed results and produced reproducible science. Many times From the outside they ask how it is possible to achieve all this in an environment that is sometimes so economically difficult.; They value that a lot, they notice the effort we have to make, sometimes much greater. Not only because of the money they have to research but also because they receive a reagent in 24 hours while we have to wait six months. It is very complex in Argentina, and with the entire economic and political situation of the country and the reaction towards the scientific system and public education. But I believe that what drives us to move forward is passion, the deep love for what we do. And the commitment to emphasize that the objective is to give more opportunities to patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases.
And he concludes: “For me It is important to highlight the importance of the public universitybecause all this would have been impossible without that support. I am the result of the public university, all this work began at the National University of Córdoba, then continued at the University of Buenos Aires, it was supported by CONICET and it would have been impossible to reach this moment without the support of the Scientific Promotion Agency of the former Ministry of Technical Science. It is very important to take care of all this, because if not there will be no basic science that can nourish any technological development and we will become a country that cannot generate its own knowledge. And let us not forget that, precisely, governing is giving opportunities.”
