Gedeptin

Gedeptin is a gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT) designed for the treatment of solid tumors, including recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, nasopharyngeal cancer, and salivary gland cancer. It utilizes a replication-deficient adenoviral vector to deliver the *E. coli* purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) gene directly into tumor cells via intratumoral injection. The PNP enzyme itself is inactive in humans but can convert the systemically administered prodrug fludarabine phosphate into a highly toxic chemotherapeutic agent (fluoroadenine) within the tumor microenvironment. This approach enables localized cytotoxicity with minimal systemic toxicity and exhibits a bystander effect that kills neighboring tumor cells not directly transduced by the vector. Gedeptin has demonstrated synergy with immune checkpoint inhibitors in preclinical studies and is currently being evaluated in phase 2 clinical trials for recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma[1][4][5][7].

Brand names

Gedeptin

Other names

adenovirus-encoding E.coli PNPAd/PNP