Dr. Michael Achiam and Charlotte Egeland, MD Rigshospitalet, Københavns Universitet – University of Copenhagen.

There is a significant unmet clinical need for these patients and we’re excited about the potential to impact positively on their quality of life

GALWAY, Ireland (PRWEB)
June 28, 2021

Mirai Medical Ltd, a manufacturer of a precision cancer therapy platform, announced the first procedures at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark in a clinical trial to evaluate the safety of Calcium electroporation treatment with EndoVE®, and ePORE® a novel breakthrough technology that can treat gastrointestinal cancers endoscopically.

The first procedure in the trial (EudraCT identification number: 2020-005787-58) was performed in a team led by Dr. Michael Achiam at the Department of surgery and transplantation at Rigshospitalet. The trial aims to establish the safety and feasibility of treating patients with advanced oesophageal cancer in combination with local intratumoral injection of a calcium based solution.

Pulsed electrical fields generated by the ePORE® and delivered directly to the tumour by the EndoVE® endoscopic system results in electroporation of the cells and allows for passive diffusion of a locally injected calcium solution. Compared to healthy cells, cancer cells are selectively less able to tolerate excessive intracellular calcium and results in their death.

Developed exclusively at Mirai Medical, ePORE® therapy delivers high frequency pulsed electrical fields to ‘electroporate’ the tissue i.e. to make the cells porous, through the specifically designed EndoVE® device which is applied directly to tumours in the gastrointestinal tract. Unlike traditional methods used for tumour destruction (radiotherapy used ionizing radiation; Radio frequency uses heating, Cryoablation uses cooling), ePORE® therapy uses high frequency pulsed electrical fields which are non-toxic and preferentially target cancerous tissue leaving healthy tissues intact.

“With this new treatment option we have an exciting possibility to improve the treatment options for patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer. There is a significant unmet clinical need for these patients and we’re excited about the potential to impact positively on their quality of life,” said Dr. Michael Achiam, study principal investigator and upper GI surgeon at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Oesophageal cancer is the 7th most common cause of cancer morbidity and the 6th most common cause of cancer related death worldwide. In western countries, incidence of adenocarcinoma (OAC), a histological subtype of oesophageal cancer has increased by over 600% over the past 3 decades. With no specific symptoms of early oesophageal cancers, most tumours are diagnosed at a late stage and rapidly progress to an advanced stage when treatment options are limited, and cure is not possible.

Dr. Declan Soden, PhD., CEO of Mirai Medical added,

“We are delighted to see the first patient treated in the Oesophageal Calcium EndoVE trial which is a very exciting development and opens new possible treatment options for patients with GI cancer. The idea of treating cancer by injecting it with calcium and delivering a burst of electrical pulses is truly pioneering and hopefully can lead to a new option being available with less side effects for cancer patients.”

About Mirai Medical

At Mirai Medical, we are passionate about developing technology that greatly improves cancer outcomes and enhances patient experiences. Following over 10 years of research and development, Mirai Medical was formed from a team with over 30 combined years of experience in the field of electroporation and pulsed electrical fields for cancer, immunotherapy and medical device development to address critical unmet challenges in global skin and gastrointestinal cancer treatment. Our ePORE technology is a unique precision therapy platform that targets tumour tissue whilst preserving surrounding healthy tissue structure. Proven to be a safe, simple and cost-effective technique, it greatly reduces side effects and improves the experience of cancer patients. It is less invasive and allows for faster treatment delivered as a day-case procedure.

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