SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Based company The One Health announced in October that it has raised $10 million to improve cancer treatments for dogs.
Ben Lewis, 38 and Christina Lopes, 45, founded the company to help revolutionize the way cancer is treated in dogs. Traditionally, chemotherapy is used to target the cancer cells. Dogs are still being treated with similar chemotherapies as they were in the 20th century.
One Health’s product, FidoCure introduces the therapies that have been successfully used to treat humans with cancer in the world of veterinary medicine.
FidoCure has three different stages: Sequence DNA, Identify Mutations and Targeted Therapy. During Sequence DNA, the veterinarian submits a tissue sample to FidoCure for DNA Sequencing. FidoCure creates a personalized DNA report that helps identify genetic mutations that may affect treatment. In the last stage, FidoCure informs the veterinarian of the results, who in turn prescribes targeted therapies, which are administered orally at home.
“What FidoCure provides is really a unique piece of information, the genomic signature of that cancer,” said Dr. Gerald Post, One Health Company Chief Veterinary Officer. “Now veterinarians are able to use not only histology, and stage, and breed, but also the genomic signature in order to put together a treatment plan with more information.”
In 2017, the One Health Company announced a partnership with John Hopkins University School of Medicine to evaluate a therapy that could be potentially used to treat cancer in both dogs and humans. The company has partnered with over 110 trial sites in the U.S. and abroad, in countries such as France, Belgium and Brazil.
“The FDA requires that many drugs, biologics and medical devices be tested on animals,” Benjamin Lewis, co-founder of The One Healthy Company, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “Rather than use lab animals, we recruit sick pets to participate in clinical trials that give them access to free cutting-edge treatments and help researchers develop more effective therapies in human oncology.”
