Interview with the developer of world's first approved “photoimmunotherapy", a new treatment for cancer

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

がん 新たな治療法の薬「光免疫療法」世界初承認で開発者会見

2020年9月29日 16時54分

光に反応する化学物質と組み合わせたがんの薬を、患者に投与したあと光を当ててがん細胞を攻撃するという新たな治療法の薬が、先週、世界で初めて承認されました。

この薬を開発した研究者が記者会見し「がん治療のもう1つの選択肢になってくれればよいと思う」と期待を示しました。

アメリカの国立衛生研究所に所属する小林久隆主任研究員は、がんを狙い撃ちにする抗体を使った薬に、光に反応する化学物質を組み合わせたがんの治療法を開発し、先週、世界で初めて他の治療が難しい頭けい部がんの治療薬として、日本国内で承認されました。

29日、小林主任研究員と薬を開発した製薬会社「楽天メディカル」の三木谷浩史会長らが、東京都内で記者会見しました。

薬は、患者に点滴で投与され、体の外から近赤外線のレーザー光を当てると活性化されてがん細胞が破壊される仕組みで「光免疫療法」と呼ばれています。

小林主任研究員は、この治療法を数十年研究してきたということで「患者の手に届かなければ意味がなく、日本で承認されたことはうれしいかぎりだ。がん治療のもう1つの選択肢になってくれればよいと思う」と述べました。

また三木谷会長は「他の化学療法との組み合わせも可能になると考えている。なるべく早く患者に届けたい」と期待を示しました。

この薬は今後、医療保険を適用する手続きが進められますが、早期に承認されたことから販売された後も安全性や有効性について検証が進められます。

Translation

Last week, the world's first approved new treatment that attacked cancer cells by shining light on a patient who was given a cancer drug that would combine with a chemical and reacted to light.

The researcher who developed this drug spoke at a press conference and showed expectations that "it will be another option to choose from for cancer treatment."

Hisataka Kobayashi, a senior researcher at the National Institutes of Health in the United States, developed a cancer treatment which would combine with a drug that used antibodies to target at cancer with a chemical that could react to light. For the first time last week, it was approved in Japan as a treatment for cervical cancer which was difficult to treat by other treatments.

On the 29th, Senior Researcher Kobayashi together with Hiroshi Mikitani the chairman of Rakuten Medical that was a pharmaceutical company that developed drugs, held a press conference in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The drug would be given to the patient by intravenous drip and would be activated when a near-infrared laser beam was applied from outside the body so as to destroy the cancer cells, this process was called "photoimmunotherapy".

Kobayashi said that he had been studying this treatment for decades, saying, "It is meaningless if it is out of the reach of patients, and I am happy that it has been approved in Japan. I think it is nice to have another option in cancer treatment."

In addition, Chairman Mikitani showed his expectation that, "I think it will be possible to combine it with other chemotherapy. I want to deliver it to patients as soon as possible."

For this drug in future, procedure would be proceeded to make it coverable by medical insurance, but as it was just at an early stage with the approval, its safety and efficacy would continue be verified even after it had been marketed.

              It is nice to know that because of the appearance of this type of new drug, there will be one more option in cancer treatments.