MIPS Project Challenge:
A major problem with many cancer drugs is their lack of tumor specificity and doselimiting toxicity. The ultimate purpose of Rexahn’s MIPS project was to reduce toxicity for patients and increase the efficacy of cancer chemotherapeutics by selectively targeting them to tumor cells.

Project Scope:
Rexahn worked with Anjan Nan, from UMB’s Center for Nanomedicine & Cellular Delivery (CNCD), on the development of polymer-drug conjugates for the targeted delivery of cancer drugs. The researchers attached anticancer drugs to a nontoxic, water-soluble polymeric carrier so they could be localized in the tumor area by a process known as enhanced permeability and retention effect (EPR). Once the drug attached to the polymer localized around tumors, the cells engulfed the polymerdrug conjugate, cleaved the bond between the drug and the polymer and released the drug inside the tumor cells to kill cancer cells.