MagForce AG announces plans for further NanoTherm Treatment Centre
Therapy for brain tumour patients will also be available in Thuringia
MagForce AG, a leading medical device company in the field of nanomedicine focused on oncology, and the Hufeland Klinikum GmbH, announced the conclusion of a joint cooperation agreement and the planned opening of a NanoTherm treatment center for brain tumors at the Mühlhausen site in Thuringia, Germany.
The new treatment center is managed by Privatdozent (PD) Dr. Johannes Wölfer, head physician of the Department of Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery. As a long-standing expert in the use of MagForce's NanoTherm Therapy System, PD Dr. Wölfer was involved in the development of the training concept for the ‘NanoTherm Therapy School’, among other things. Through ‘NanoTherm Therapy School’, surgeons are certified in the use of the innovative technology by participating in a comprehensive series of application training courses. Before joining the Hufeland Klinikum in 2017, PD Dr. Wölfer was deputy director of the Department of Neuro-oncology at the Münster University Hospital (UKM), which has treated brain tumor patients with the NanoTherm Therapy System since the beginning of 2015. As a member of the UKM team, PD Dr. Wölfer successfully used a new application method for nanoparticles, "NanoPaste", for the first time in 2016. In clinical studies, the team was able to show that the outcome of thermotherapy for tumor ablation can be significantly enhanced if the heat-generating nanoparticles are better applied around the edge of the resection that occurs after the brain tumor has been removed. For its research, the team was awarded the "Best Abstract Award" of the EANS congress, among others. PD Dr. Wölfer also plans to offer state-of-the-art brain tumor therapy at the Hufeland Klinikum in Mühlhausen with the NanoTherm Therapy System.
"The Hufeland Klinikum GmbH in Mühlhausen offers excellent conditions for our work, has very modern technical equipment and is also excellently well positioned in terms of personnel. The vision of our neurological faculties is to use the potential of the NanoTherm Therapy System and create a lighthouse in the region for the treatment of brain tumors," said Chief Physician PD Dr. Johannes Wölfer. "For many gliomas, surgery, i.e. the removal of the tumor as far as possible, is top priority. If the tumor returns despite all treatments, in 90 percent of cases this happens at the edges of the former operation. With the help of heat, additional tumor tissue can be destroyed here. However, healthy brain tissue does not tolerate heat well. The medical challenge was therefore to generate the heat in such a way that as little healthy tissue as possible is damaged. This is where nanotechnology comes in, opening up new treatment options for us."
The Hufeland Klinikum at the Mühlhausen site in Thuringia will be the fourth clinic in Europe currently offering MagForce's NanoTherm Therapy System for the commercial treatment of brain tumors. As one of the academic teaching hospitals of the University of Göttingen, the hospital draws on over 100 years of experience as a successful healthcare and medical service provider.
With two modern, future-oriented hospitals, the subsidiary Hufeland MVZ GmbH with a total of more than 1,300 qualified employees in the Hufeland network offer highly specialized medical services, thus ensuring medical care for patients in Bad Langensalza, Mühlhausen and the surrounding area. Since the opening of the Department of Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery in July 2017, the range of operations has constantly expanded, and outpatient neurosurgical consultations are also held regularly at Hufeland MVZ GmbH.
"We are very pleased that with the Hufeland Klinikum, another competent center for the treatment of brain tumor patients with our NanoTherm Therapy System will soon be established in Central Germany. PD Dr. Wölfer not only has many years of experience with our therapy but was also instrumental in the further development of the application method, which is now being used at other hospitals. We look forward to continuing our long-standing cooperation with the Hufeland Klinikum," said Dr. Ben Lipps, Chief Executive Officer of MagForce AG and MagForce USA, Inc.
The role of NanoTherm therapy in the treatment of brain tumors
NanoTherm therapy is a relatively new procedure for the focal treatment of solid tumors. Simplified summary: Magnetic nanoparticles are instilled either directly into the tumor or into the resection cavity wall. These particles are then heated by an alternating magnetic field, thereby destroying the cancer cells.
The nanoparticles are tiny particles of iron oxide suspended in water, i.e. very finely distributed, with a diameter of approximately 15 nanometers. One nanometer corresponds to a millionth of a millimeter. As soon as they are applied, the particles agglomerate and remain in the tissue to be treated like an implant. The particles are then made to generate heat in an alternating magnetic field that changes polarity up to 100,000 times per second.
Depending on the therapeutic temperatures reached in the tumor or individual remaining cancer cells in the resection cavity wall and the duration of treatment, the cancer cells are irreparably destroyed as a result, or they become weakened and more sensitive to accompanying radio- or chemotherapy. The type of application of the nanoparticles is decided individually by the treating neurosurgeon.
This new technique makes it possible to fight the tumor from the inside or, after surgical removal of the tumor, to ensure that isolated residual tumor cells in the resection cavity wall - which could trigger recurrences - are fought and destroyed. The surrounding healthy tissue is spared, since the particles remain at the site of application due to their special surface structure.
About MagForce AG and MagForce USA, Inc.
MagForce AG, listed in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (MF6, ISIN: DE000A0HGQF5), together with its subsidiary MagForce USA, Inc. is a leading medical device company in the field of nanomedicine focused on oncology. The Group's proprietary NanoTherm(R) therapy system enables the targeted treatment of solid tumors through the intratumoral generation of heat via activation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles.
NanoTherm(R), NanoPlan(R), and NanoActivator(R) are components of the therapy and have received EU-wide regulatory approval as medical devices for the treatment of brain tumors. MagForce, NanoTherm, NanoPlan, and NanoActivator are trademarks of MagForce AG in selected countries.
Contact:
MagForce AG
Max-Planck-Straße 3, 12489 Berlin
www.magforce.com
Press and investor contact information:
Barbara von Frankenberg
VP Communications & Investor Relations
Phone +49 30 308380-77
bfrankenberg(at)magforce.com