The fight against cancer is one of the greatest medical challenges of our time. According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of new cancer cases annually worldwide will rise from 11.3 million in 2007 to 15.5 million in 2013. Reducing mortality from cancer and improving patients’ quality of life continues to be a major goal for the medical and pharmaceutical communities.

Targeted Cancer Treatment
The destruction of cancer cells through the targeted activation of specific immune cells of the body is an important approach to fighting cancer. Therapies with trifunctional antibodies based on this treatment approach recognise cancer cells through specific protein structures on the cell surface, such as EpCAM molecule. They simultaneously recruit defense cells of the immune system, bring them in contact with cancer cells, and trigger destruction of the cancer cells.

New therapies are being developed with the goal of repressing the tumor, while at the same time minimizing adverse effects on the healthy organism.

Therapeutic Areas 
Targeted therapy with trifunctional antibodies is a feasible approach for several types of cancer. For malignant ascites, a severe disease that is associated with certain types of cancer in advanced stages, an effective targeted therapy with a trifunctional antibody is already being applied in medical practice.

Fresenius Biotech in Oncology
Fresenius Biotech is working to develop immunologically effective new types of antibodies in a wide range of therapeutic areas. For the first time, cancer patients suffering from malignant ascites can be treated with Removab®, an antibody treatment that specifically targets this disease.

The trifunctional antibody technology is based on a development of TRION Pharma GmbH, a cooperation partner of Fresenius Biotech. 

In further clinical studies, Fresenius Biotech is extensively examining and analyzing the effectiveness of immunological cancer therapies on various types of cancer.