11:32 AM EDT, 04/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Sona Nanotech ( SNANF ) announced further positive interim results from its study with The Giacomantonio Immuno-Oncology Research Group at Dalhousie University.

Data from the study indicates the response in a pre-clinical triple negative breast cancer model treated with the combination of Sona's targeted hyperthermia therapy (THT) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), a standard immunotherapy, is "statistically significantly" superior to results observed from treatment with either agent individually or the control group.

This second phase of the study documented that, in a cohort of six animals with the most aggressive and therapy resistant form, mouse tumors bearing gold nanorods and IL-2 responded to the combination therapy, resulting in a flattening of the tumor growth curves, the statement reported.

Study Principal Investigator and Sona Advisory Board member, Dr. Carman Giacomantonio, said, "To date, this study demonstrates that Sona's THT therapy shrinks tumors, but early data also suggests that it may increase the efficacy of established therapies based on the synergistic effect it had when combined with IL-2, with results that went well beyond our expectations. Also, as with our first phase of study, in all cases in this second phase we observed tumor shrinkage in distant, untreated tumors . . . supporting the hypothesis that THT promotes a systemic immunogenic response which we will continue to study."

The Study's next step is to assess the therapy's ability to generate similar results in melanoma and colorectal cancer mouse models and determine the extent to which it serves as an immune modulator for distant, untreated tumors in these cancers. The company has received guidance on its pre-clinical study plan from both the Food and Drug Administration and its EXCITE International panel of senior physicians and payor organization representatives in the United States.