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Microbubble Dose Optimization for Image-Guided Drug Delivery

Award Number: R01CA239465
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/05/2019
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

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Microbubble Dose Optimization for Image-Guided Drug Delivery - The development of new pharmaceuticals for the treatment of brain cancer and neurological disease has outpaced our ability to deliver them safely, largely due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Bypassing the BBB to access the brain parenchyma is often highly invasive, involving surgery to remove part of the skull and needle insertion directly into the brain tissue, resulting in lasting damage and significant costs. An alternative, microbubble-assisted focused ultrasound (MB+FUS), is a promising noninvasive, image-guided method of BBB disruption (BBBD) currently undergoing three human clinical trials. MB+FUS induces transient openings in the BBB via acoustically mediated pulsation of 1-10 µm diameter intravenously delivered gas-filled microbubbles, allowing for targeted drug delivery to brain regions as small as 2-3 mm diameter. The safe dosage of these microbubbles has become central to the polarizing debate that is ongoing in the MB+FUS community, and is critical to clinical translation. With recent findings indicating acute sterile immune response (SIR) after MB+FUS BBBD, elucidating the relationship between microbubble dose, pharmacokinetics (PK), ultrasound mechanical index, and MB+FUS-associated tissue effects has become essential. Efforts to do so, however, have been confounded by the product-to-product and batch-to-batch variations in the size, concentration and composition of commercially available microbubble ultrasound contrast agent formulations. Using size-isolated microbubbles (SIMBs) of different monodisperse sizes and uniform composition, our team of researchers at the University of Colorado and NIDA recently discovered that microbubble dosing can be simplified by unifying size and concentration into a single parameter: microbubble volume dose (MVD), which trends linearly with key figures-of-merit for microbubble PK and BBBD magnitude. In this project, we will investigate this effect further in order to create a clear framework for comparing results prospectively and retrospectively between studies performed by different laboratories and different microbubble agents. In Aim 1, we will test the hypothesis that figures-of-merit for PK scale linearly with MVD for FDA-approved ultrasound contrast agents currently used in human clinical trials and most preclinical research, as well as our own SIMBs. We will extend this research to establish a therapeutic window between the minimum MVDs to produce BBBD and acute SIR. In Aim 2, we will test the hypothesis that the minimum MVD required for successful BBBD decreases with increasing mechanical index (MI), which is a unifying ultrasound parameter incorporating frequency and amplitude. The robustness of this relationship will be explored by examining effects of microbubble size (using SIMB), ultrasound frequency and molecular weight of the model drug. Finally, in Aim 3, we will establish a therapeutic window between BBBD (efficacy) and acute SIR (safety) on a diagram of MVD vs. MI, which will help researchers and clinicians in the field to choose appropriate ultrasound and microbubble dose settings for safe BBBD by MB+FUS, and to guide their procedures.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2023	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80303	BOULDER	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	5	11/26/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $345,230 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	5	6/26/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$345,230
														Subtotal = $345,230

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $345,230 )
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	4	6/23/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$345,230
														Subtotal = $345,230

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $352,275 )
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	3	6/25/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$352,275
														Subtotal = $352,275

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $352,275 )
2020	2020	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	2	6/12/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$352,275
														Subtotal = $352,275

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $352,275 )
2019	2019	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	1	7/5/2019	NEW	$352,275
														Subtotal = $352,275

Grand Total All Awards = $1,747,285

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Microbubble Dose Optimization for Image-Guided Drug Delivery

Award Number: R01CA239465

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/05/2019

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

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