Company history

InhaTarget Therapeutics is a spin-off company from the University of Brussels (ULB) - Belgium, dedicated to the early development and clinical validation of innovative treatments of pulmonary diseases by inhalation, with a first focus on lung cancer.
The company was established in August 2019 and brings together strong complementary expertise in drug formulation, inhalation delivery, immunology, preclinical development and clinical operations.

The technology platform at the basis of the company’s activities is the result of more than 15 years of research performed at the Unit of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics (ULB), led by Pr. Karim Amighi with the collaboration of Pr. Nathalie Wauthoz, in the field of innovative formulations for inhalation, and more specifically for the treatment of lung cancer.

In December 2019, the company closed a Series A1 financing round of €3.6M in equity (completed with €2.8M of non-dilutive public funding) in order to support the initial activities of the company, including the non-regulatory preclinical studies, the tech transfer and GMP manufacturing of first batches, and the non-clinical regulatory toxicity study on its lead product (CIS-DPI, an inhaled cisplatin-based chemotherapy for the treatment of lung cancer).

In June 2022, the company completed a Series A2 financing round of €3.3M in equity (completed with €4.5M of non-dilutive public funding) to support (i) the early clinical development (Phase I/IIa) of the company’s lead product, CIS-DPI, and (ii) the formulation and preclinical validation of new pipeline products.

In February 2023, the company received authorization from the Belgian Authorities (FAMHP) to launch its first-in-human Phase I/IIa trial of its lead product (CIS-DPI) in First Line Stage IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients in five Belgian clinical sites.

Our mission

InhaTarget Therapeutics gathers cutting-edge expertise in drug formulation for inhalation and in immunology to improve the treatment of severe diseases and patients' quality of life.

InhaTarget Therapeutics leverages its thorough expertise in drug formulation and immunology to change the game of existing molecules through novel and improved treatment modalities in terms of route of administration, frequency of treatment, mechanism of action, compound stability.

The CIS-DPI case:

CIS-DPI is an innovative dry powder formulation for inhalation of a well-known drug: cisplatin. Commonly administered intravenously as a Standard of Care in the treatment of many cancers, including lung cancer, cisplatin presents high limiting systemic toxicities that result in limited administered dose, and low frequency and duration of treatment. The choice of the pulmonary route and the specific innovative dry powder formulation of this molecule enables to leverage many advantages for the benefit of the patients:

Efficiency

The inhalation route overcomes the systemic limitations of intravenously administered cisplatin: It bypasses the systemic toxicities while increasing pulmonary exposure to the drug and it allows much more frequent local administrations to achieve a better treatment outcome.

Immune Modulation

On top of the expected cytotoxic effect of the drug on the lung cancer cells, CIS-DPI presents interesting local immunogenic properties through an intra-tumor recruitment of conventional dendritic cells and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. These immunogenic properties of CIS-DPI make it a promising candidate for a combination with lung cancer immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Optimized Formulation

The proper selection of the formulation and the inhalation device ensures optimal aerodynamic properties of the drug, with a high deposition in the lungs (even in patients with limited lung capacities) and a prolonged local efficacy.