Targeted, Customized Treatment for Bone Metastases Using 3D Printing
Designed to develop materials suitable for repairing bone metastases, the 3DTraitCancer project has led to two patents and the creation of two startups. This project is supported by MUSE as part of its 2017 “Support for Research ” call for proposals.
Bone repair down to the micrometer. That’s the level of precision made possible by 3D printing custom-designed implants. In addition to their shape, the structure of the implants must contribute to bone regeneration by facilitating the growth of bone cells and by being naturally resorbed. This objective served as the starting point for the collaboration between Mikhael Bechelany’s team at the European Institute of Membranes (IEM) and Vincent Cavaillès’s team at the Montpellier Institute for Cancer Research s (IRCM). “As is often the case in science, an initial meeting gives rise to more ambitious collaborations,” comments Cavaillès. For these two researchers, the collaboration takes the form of the 3DTraitCancer project, which aims to develop new implants to treat bone tumors (osteoclastomas, bone metastases from breast cancer, etc.). Bone repair following the removal of metastatic bone lesions is, in fact, a key area of cancer treatment research. Funding from Muse in 2017 gave them a leg up.
The Ideal Material
Straddling the fields of chemistry and biology, Habib Belaid’s dissertation paves the way for the design of the ideal material for these implants: a porous, biodegradable, and biomimetic structure. “Cells must be able to attach to and multiply easily within this structure, which must then degrade naturally after a few months as the bone regenerates,” explains the young doctor. He prints his materials using 3D printers at theIEM, then tests them in the IRCM laboratory—first to verify that they are non-toxic, and then to improve their expected properties.
In addition to bone regeneration, these implants are also designed to help prevent cancer recurrence by enabling localized drug delivery. In other words, the porous structure is intended to facilitate fluid flow for the administration of an anticancer drug. This targeted therapy could help avoid systemic treatments that patients often have difficulty tolerating. In addition to chemistry and biology, this project therefore also involves the medical field—with the Montpellier University Hospital and the Montpellier Cancer Institute providing their clinical expertise—as well as mechanical engineering, through the Laboratory of Mechanics and Civil Engineering (LMGC). “A network of expertise initiated by Muse that fosters this essential interdisciplinarity,” emphasizes Vincent Cavaillès.
Two startups
Still on the topic of bone repair, research is being conducted in parallel on injectable cements. Indeed, bone lesions caused by metastases lead to vertebral fractures that require the injection of cement rather than implant surgery. Findings—again derived from Habib Belaid’s doctoral thesis, completed in 2019, and Carole Barou’s CIFRE thesis—have led to two patents on reparative calcium-phosphate cements. One patent covers the local delivery of drugs embedded in the cement, involving two molecules that play a role in bone regeneration and in the treatment of tumor recurrence. The other relates to a cement with improved mechanical properties that has been made opaque, allowing for easy monitoring via X-ray. Shortly thereafter, a meeting with an industry partner led to the creation of the startup Biologics4life, which is facilitating the transition of these cements to the commercial phase.
As Biologics4life finds its business model after three years in operation, Habib Belaid is working on launching a second startup, NextMat3D, which is focused this time on commercializing his research on 3D-printed osteomimetic implants. To establish this new company, the researcher will initially adapt the technology to applications less complex than cancer treatment, such as dentistry: in this case, the implant is used to fill a bone defect before a dental implant is placed. The future entrepreneur points out that obtaining marketing authorization for dental devices is also easier and faster than in oncology.