News

PRESS RELEASE
April 29, 2024

Ludvig Sjöberg as new CEO of Moroxite T

The Board of Directors of Moroxite T AB has appointed Ludvig Sjöberg as the new CEO. Ludvig will take over as CEO of Moroxite T on May 1, 2024.

Ludvig has extensive experience in life science and medical technology. He comes most recently from the position as CEO of the kidney transplant company UGLK Science AB, and has previously worked with business and technology development at Igelösa Life Science AB and with the production of CE-marked lung transplant equipment at Vivoline Medical AB.

PRESS RELEASE
October 06, 2023

Notice of grant of patent

Moroxite T AB announces that the patent application “Novel treatment regimen of cancer” has been granted by a formal notice from European Patent Office (EPO).

The granted patent relates to a novel composition and administration mode of a particulate material, such as e.g., micro and/or nano sized hydroxyapatite (HA) combined with an antitumor drug (an anthracycline) and an osteoporosis drug (a bisphosphonate). The patent will be in force at least 20 years from the priority date.

August 15, 2023

Moroxite T team announcement

Moroxite T is delighted to welcome a highly qualified team on board starting the 15 of August 2023. With their expertise we’re gearing up for an exciting journey. Johan Drott has been appointed CEO and together with Åke Knutsson, Mathias Lidgren, Carin Thorell, Linda Andersson, Anna Szilágyi, Deepak Raina and Apurva Kaul will join the Moroxite T family.

To find out more about our team, please see: https://www.moroxitet.com/about-us/

Lars Lidgren- Chairman

July 31, 2023

Purchase Agreement Addendum

Moroxite Holding Pte. Ltd (“MHPL”), and Moroxite AB (“MA”) have agreed in an addendum signed by both parties and confirmed by board decision to transfer of 30% shareholding interest in Moroxite T back to MA. The present royalty/license part in the agreement was removed by the addendum. MHPL keeps its commitment to invest up to SEK 43.2 million in Moroxite T, upon fulfilment of agreed milestones.

Full information could be found on https://investor.rexih.com/news.html/id/2450554

Feburary 20, 2023

Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting

TERM group at Lund University presented their work a the recently held Orthopaedic Research Society 2023 Annual meeting in Dallas, Texas, USA.

January 20, 2023

International Preliminary Report on Patentability

We have received the International Preliminary Report on Patentability (IPRP) of PCT Application No. PCT/EP2021/077420. (Doxorubicin + ZA bound to nano-sized HA particles). The IPRP now concludes the international phase and provides a preliminary non-binding opinion on the patentability.

We are very pleased to report that all claims on file have been found novel and inventive and consequently, are found patentable. 

January 10, 2023

Moroxite T AB, a spin off from Moroxite AB, has been acquired by a subsidiary of REX International Holding (REX), a Singapore based stock listed company. The acquisition is pending approval from REX’s shareholders.

Moroxite T focuses on hindering solid tumour progression and prevent metastasis. Its protected unique carrier platform for targeted cancer therapy uses a combination of nano and micro apatite particles for local delivery. REX and Moroxite T have joined forces to develop a novel closed vacuum mixing system that allows environmentally safe delivery of cytostatic drugs.

Moroxite AB, a med-tech company, was founded in 2021 by orthopaedic professor Lars Lidgren and business veteran Semmy Rülf together with a research group in Lund with the aim of developing and exploiting a completely new technology to send approved drugs via the bloodstream to an implanted bone mineral. Certain drugs can chemically bind to such a carrier containing nano and microparticles of the bone mineral apatite.

The first company to spin off was Moroxite F, where the technology is used to improve fracture fixation in osteoporotic bone. In Moroxite F, Almi Invest and Fåhraeus Startup and Growth Fund invested 10 million in 2022 and the company now runs an exciting business. The next spin-off is Moroxite T, a new and defined application that enables the treatment of cancer with partly the same basic technology.

Today we would like to inform you that the application and technology of treating bone cancer have found new owners and financing to ensure that research and development successfully should bring this to clinical use. REX International Holding, listed on the Singapore stock exchange, has acquired the newly started research company Moroxite T in Lund. At the same time, REX invests 43.2 million in the start-up. The agreement regulates compensation to the seller via royalties and license as well as half of the additional purchase price in the event of the sale of Moroxite T. The company will continue to have its operations in Lund and the recruitment process of top management and QA has begun. The investment will contribute in developing a novel closed vacuum mixing system to be used in an operating room or X-ray/CT lab, with the aim of handling the mixing of cytostatics to injectable polymers and ceramics in a safe way. Such a system is missing today.

The indication for the product is currently osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer with a high risk of spreading. The disease also affects young people. Chemotherapy was introduced as a treatment in the 70s. Today, a combination of doxorubicin, methotrexate and cisplatin is given combined with surgical excision and often radiotherapy. Survival has increased dramatically with this combination therapy. At the same time, the number of patients who respond poorly to treatment has increased. No new drugs have really been developed in the last three decades. The challenges with current treatment methods are above all 1) that the amount of chemotherapy that reaches the tumor tissue is limited (at best 5% of the total dose given drug), 2) that serious side effects occur due to unwanted accumulation of chemotherapy in healthy organs, 3) that an increased number of patients respond poorly to treatment due to the development of resistance to the chemotherapy and 4) the absence of development of new and more effective drugs.

A research group based in Lund with emeritus Professor Lars Lidgren, Professor Magnus Tägil, PhD Deepak Raina and PhD Liu Yang, has developed a unique method to bind approved tumor drugs to hydroxyapatite, a naturally occurring bone mineral in the body. The group has recently published in scientific journals on artificial injectable bone substitute with hydroxyapatite as a promising carrier material for cytostatics, with local high release in tumor tissue. Animal studies have shown improved tumor control of osteosarcoma compared to systemic chemotherapy. Particle composition and specific binding to HA was the key to a good therapeutic effect.

Locally injected apatite-bearing cytostatics in combination with systemic chemotherapy can be a supplement in bone cancer and contribute to a better treatment of solid soft tissue tumours and bone metastases.

Swedish Version

Moroxite AB bildades 2021 av professorn i ortopedi Lars Lidgren och näringslivsveteranen Semmy Rülf tillsammans med en forskargrupp i Lund med syftet att utveckla och exploatera en helt ny teknik för att via blodbanan sända godkända läkemedel till ett implanterat benmineral. Vissa läkemedel kan kemiskt binda till en sådan inopererad bärare innehållande nano och mikropartiklar av benmineralet apatit. Det första bolaget som avknoppades var Moroxite F där tekniken används för att förbättra fraktur fixation och läkning vid benskörhet. I Moroxite F investerade Almi Invest och Fåhraeus Startup and Growth Fond 10 miljoner under 2022 och bolaget är nu aktivt och driver en spännande verksamhet. Nästa spin-off är Moroxite T, en ny och avgränsad applikation som möjliggör behandling av cancer med delvis samma basteknologi.

Idag vill vi informera om att applikationen och teknologin bakom möjligheten att behandla cancer funnit nya ägare och finansiärer som tryggar forskning och utveckling för att framgångsrikt ta detta till klinisk kommersiell användning. 

REX International Holding, listat på Singaporebörsen, köper nu det nystartade forskningsbolaget Moroxite T i Lund. REX investerar samtidigt 43.2 miljoner i uppstarten. Avtalet reglerar ersättning till säljaren via royalty och licensintäkter samt hälften av tillkommande köpeskilling vid försäljning av hela bolaget. Det operativa bolaget Moroxite T kommer att ha sin verksamhet i Lund. Rekrytering av top management och QA har påbörjats. Investeringen skall bidraga till att utveckla ett slutet vacuum blandningssystem som ska användas på en operationsavdelning eller röntgen /CT lab, med syftet att hantera inblandning av cytostatika till injicerbara polymerer och keramer på ett säkert sätt. Ett sådant system saknas idag.

Indikationen för produkten är idag osteosarkom, en aggressiv form av bencancer med hög risk för spridning. Sjukdomen drabbar även unga personer. Cellgifter introducerades som behandling på 70 talet. Idag ges en kombination av doxorubicin, metotrexat och cisplatin kombinerat med kirurgisk excision och ofta strålbehandling. Överlevnaden har ökat dramatiskt med denna kombinationsbehandling. Samtidigt har antalet patienter som svarar dåligt på behandlingen ökat. Några nya läkemedel har egentligen inte utvecklats under de tre senaste decennierna. Utmaningarna med nuvarande behandlingsmetoder är framför allt 1) att mängden cellgift som når tumörvävnaden är begränsad (i bästa fall 5% av den totala dosen givet läkemedel), 2) att allvarliga biverkningar uppträder på grund av oönskad ackumulering av cellgifter i friska organ, 3) att ett ökat antal patienter svarar dåligt på behandlingen på grund av resistensutveckling mot kemoterapin och 4) frånvaron av utveckling av nya och mer effektiva läkemedel.

En lundagrupp med professor emeritus Lars Lidgren, professor Magnus Tägil, PhD Deepak Raina och PhD Liu Yang har tagit fram en unik metod att binda godkända tumörläkemedel till hydroxyapatit, ett i kroppen naturligt förekommande benmineral. Gruppen har i vetenskapliga tidskrifter beskrivit artificiellt injicerbart bensubstitut med hydroxyapatit som ett lovande bärarmaterial för cytostatika, med lokal hög frisättning i tumörvävnad. I djurstudier har man visat en förbättrad tumörbekämpning av osteosarkom jämfört med systemisk kemoterapi. Partikelsammansättning och specifik bindning till HA var nyckeln till en god terapeutisk effekt.

Lokalt injicerade apatitbärande cytostatika i kombination med systemiska cellgifter kan bli ett komplement vid skelettcancer, och bidraga till en bättre behandling av solida mjukdelstumörer och benmetastaser.

December 2022

Safety study published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology by TERM group

A safety study titled ‘Longitudinal in vivo bio distribution of nano and micro sized hydroxyapatite particles implanted in a bone defect’ has been published on Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology by TERM group at Lund University.

The study shows locally implanted nano and micro hydroxyapatite particles in a bone defect, do not migrate to the other vital organs in the body, thereby strengthening an apatite based drug delivery system in solid tumors.

Read more via the following link: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.1076320

December 2022

Doctoral Thesis

Defended thesis:  Hydroxyapatite – A trojan horse in the delivery of apatite-binding cytostatics in bone cancer — Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University. Yang Liu. 

On Monday the 18th of December 2022 Yang Liu, defended his thesis “Hydroxyapatite – A trojan horse in the delivery of apatite-binding cytostatics in bone cancer” at the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University. 

Yang Liu has been a researcher within the TERM group at the Medical Faculty, Lund University, for four years and during this period co-authored several articles in reputable scientific journals alongside with the work on his dissertation. 

Liu’s thesis describes a new and efficient method to supplement osteosarcoma treatment, with a possible rapid translation potential, using clinically approved constituents. Read more via the following link: 

Hydroxyapatite – A trojan horse in the delivery of apatite-binding cytostatics in bone cancer — Lund University

April 2022

Article published by the Medical Faculty at Lund University on tumor research carried out by TERM group

The Medical Faculty at Lund University interviewed Deepak Raina and Yang Liu about a supplement treatment for solid tumour by using Hydroxyapatite, a bone mineral, as a carrier system to deliver the cytostatic drug, Doxorubicin, more precisely to the cancer cells.

Read more in the article published at the LU website 13 of April 2022.

Link to full text article https://www.lu.se/artikel/trojansk-hast-levererar-cytostatika-i-cancerceller

October 2021

Research grant of 5.2 MSEK awarded by The Swedish Research Council for tumor research to TERM Group

TERM group at the Lund University has received a grant of 5.2 MSEK from the Swedish Research Council to further our work in the field of solid tumor. The project is titled ‘Bio-modulation: Targeting bone disease by a Trojan horse. Repurposing old drugs to treat bone cancers’. TERM group has discovered a novel way of using nano and micro apatite particles as a local target and a carrier for drugs directed at solid tumor. The project will be supported by the Swedish Research Council for a period of 4 years.