Fannin Partners Secures Two Major Grants To Advance A Novel Targeted Therapy For Ewing Sarcoma

Fannin Partners has secured two major grants from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and the Faris Foundation to advance a novel targeted therapy for Ewing Sarcoma. The project centers on developing a proprietary Raptamer-Drug Conjugate (RapDC) therapy that targets IL1RAP, a cell-surface protein present on the majority of Ewing sarcoma tumors. Similar in concept to antibody-drug conjugates, RapDCs replace traditional antibodies with synthetic, highly targetable “Raptamers” designed to seek out cancer cells and deliver cell-killing payloads directly inside them, minimizing harm to normal tissue.

This research aims to build a precision “smart bomb” specifically for Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive pediatric bone and soft tissue cancer that has seen very little treatment innovation over recent decades. When standard treatments fail or cancer returns, young patients are left with few effective options. By using synthetic Raptamers as guided delivery vehicles, scientists can attach toxic cancer drugs directly to these target molecules, allowing the drug to bypass healthy cells and destroy the tumor from within. This combination of federal and philanthropic funding provides critical backing to push this precision medicine platform into the next stages of development for children facing hard-to-treat cancers.

Read the full article