Angiex’s Groundbreaking Cancer Research Highlighted in BusinessWeek
Angiex was featured in BusinessWeek as one of the few biotech companies exploring space as a new frontier for pharmaceutical research. CSO and co-founder Shou-Ching Jaminet explained the company’s pioneering approach in a story focused on the potential of conducting research in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS).
Angiex’s cancer therapy aims to cut off blood supply to tumors, and the ISS project allows the team to study endothelial cells in a unique near-zero-gravity setting. “If the changes we are seeing in cells in culture also occur in the cells of astronauts’ bodies, then it seems likely that tumor growth will slow down under microgravity,” Jaminet explained.
Three days after Jaminet’s experiment launched, the SpaceX craft docked with the ISS. She’s been in contact with the doctor-astronaut who’s handling her experiment, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, ever since. The results so far, Jaminet says, are encouraging. Back on Earth, she’s running a “ground control” experiment to compare how cells react in a normal-gravity environment with how they behave in microgravity. So far, her hypothesis is panning out: The endothelial cells are growing more slowly in space.
The article highlights how Angiex, along with other innovators, leverages the ISS for valuable insights that are impossible to replicate on Earth. With support from NASA and SpaceX, this initiative demonstrates Angiex’s commitment to advancing cancer research through unique methodologies and cutting-edge science.