Our vision is a future where cancer is a manageable and treatable disease, and we are building next-generation oncology technologies to revolutionize the way people live with cancer.
Our lead platform technology, Cytesia, is built from 25 years of cancer and platelet research by our Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Giannoula Lakka (right). Cytesia enables a new class of Platelet-Facilitated Drugs (PFDs) which are more effective, less toxic, and designed to accommodate any personalized therapeutic strategies.
We believe cancer should not be a terminal diagnosis, and we aim to create a library of PFDs to enable treatment strategies for every patient’s needs.
Our Approach
CSTS Health Care is a Toronto based precision oncology biotech founded in 2014 around a new paradigm for precision oncology developed by Dr. Lakka. Our goal is to create treatment options that don’t make trade-offs between efficacy and negative side effects. Our new class of precision oncology agents, which we call Platelet Facilitated Drugs (PFDs), allow treatments using any combinations of drugs with minimal toxicities.
Our therapies avoid the need for specialized treatment centres and weeks of recovery after each treatment. Combination therapies using our Cytesia technology require only weekly visits to out-patient clinics – avoiding the disruption of travel to specialized cancer centres. Our anti-cancer treatment integrate seamlessly into the existing platelet infusion procedures.
Our Technology
Cytesia is built on patented technology that exploits how proteins are sequestered into platelets and enables a new paradigm for precision oncology. Cytesia mitigates the negative side effects associated with using multiple cancer drugs together – assembling threapeutic cargo inside platelets alpha granules and using the bodies natural platelet delivery system to transport anti-cancer therapy directly to the tumor bed. Cytesia allows drugs to bypass organs, avoid drug interactions and side-effects, and reduce doses while maintaining therapeutic effect. In this way, Cytesia eliminates the need for maximum tolerated doses through unparalleled bio-distribution to disease sites.
Cytesia can be used to
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- Deploy multiple drug classes in any combination with minimal toxicities
- Deliver compounds into the CNS and across the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB)
- Target both primary and metastatic sites
- Improve pharmacokinetics and extended therapeutic windows up to 7 days
- Precisely control release of drugs through tissue activation
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The Cytesia platform is comprised of Platelet Anchoring Ligands (PALs) as well as conjugation methods. To create a platelet facilitated drug, PAL is attached to a compound and function of the parental compound is confirmed in vitro followed by in vivo dosing optimization experiments. Considerable competitive advantage can be acchieve using Cytesia compared with existing technologies such as exosomes or nanoparticles.
Our Team
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Dr. Giannoula Lakka
Chief Medical Officer -
Christos Klement
Chief Operations Officer -
Ali Hashemi
Chief Executive Officer -
Dr. Jack Tuszynski
Scientific Advisor -
Dr. Edward Rietman
Chief Science Officer -
Dr. David Andrews
Scientific Advisor
With distinguished industry partners & collaborators
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