Vitanova Biomedical Develops Light-Activated Cancer Therapy Pioneered by UTSA Researcher
The San Antonio-based biotech startup Vitanova Biomedical is developing a new way to treat cancer called photodynamic therapy that causes no side effects and can kill many types of cancers.The preclinical stage biotech company is commercializing a novel technique that uses a specific wavelength of light combined with a chemical. The new cancer treatment approach is based on research first done at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) by Matthew Gdovin when he was an associate professor in UTSA’s biology department.Gdovin pioneered using the photosensitizing agent o-nitrobenzaldehyde (o-NBA) in combination with a specific wavelength of light that activates the drug. This photodynamic therapy triggers the cancer cell to become too acidic and die, a process known as apoptosis....
