{"id":218825,"date":"2026-03-24T23:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/218825\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:24:11","slug":"utsw-interact-partner-on-novel-gene-therapy-for-metastatic-cancer-newsroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/218825\/","title":{"rendered":"UTSW, InterAct partner on novel gene therapy for metastatic cancer: Newsroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

DALLAS \u2013 March 24, 2026 \u2013 UT\u00a0Southwestern Medical Center and InterAct Therapeutics have announced an exclusive licensing agreement to develop and commercialize a groundbreaking computational platform and gene therapy pipeline targeting cancer metastasis.<\/p>\n

\"InterAct<\/p>\n

The partnership centers on InterAct\u2019s proprietary computational engine, which \u201ccracks the biological code\u201d of how cancer spreads, according to the company. The lead asset, IAT-S2, is a validated AAV8-based gene therapy specifically engineered to treat breast cancer liver metastasis (BCLM), a condition with historically limited treatment options and high mortality rates.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Daniel Hommes, M.D., Ph.D., is Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at UT\u00a0Southwestern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UTSW Innovation Hub<\/a> is dedicated to ensuring that our most promising scientific discoveries reach the patients who need them most,\u201d said Daniel Hommes, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at UT\u00a0Southwestern. \u201cInterAct\u2019s unique computational approach to metastasis, combined with our foundational research, creates a powerful synergy. We are proud to partner with a team that has shown such rapid clinical and operational progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Isaac<\/p>\n

Isaac Chan, M.D., Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and of Molecular Biology at UT\u00a0Southwestern. Dr. Chan is a member of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UTSW.<\/p>\n

The agreement capitalizes on the cancer research of Isaac Chan, M.D., Ph.D.<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine<\/a> in the Division of Hematology and Oncology<\/a> and of Molecular Biology<\/a> at UT\u00a0Southwestern. Dr. Chan is a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Research Program in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a>\u00a0at UTSW.<\/p>\n

InterAct\u2019s momentum accelerated significantly in early 2026. The company was recently selected for the Charles River Incubator Program, a prestigious endorsement that provides the dedicated manufacturing scale necessary to advance IAT-S2 and InterAct\u2019s broader pipeline toward clinical trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis licensing agreement is a pivotal milestone for InterAct,\u201d said Dan Hargrove, CEO of InterAct Therapeutics. \u201cInterAct is at the forefront of cracking the biological code of how invasive cancer cells displace healthy host cells. By leveraging the pioneering work of Dr. Isaac Chan and the Chan Lab<\/a> at UT\u00a0Southwestern, we have developed a way to reverse this process. Yet our approach doesn\u2019t just turn the host environment into a barrier against disease; it trains healthy host cells to become cancer killers.<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

Dan Hargrove is CEO of InterAct Therapeutics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply grateful to UT\u00a0Southwestern, a powerhouse in cancer research, for its partnership in this mission and the significant support of the UTSW Innovation Hub. Following productive discussions with the Food and Drug Administration and our selection into the Charles River Incubator Program, we are moving with urgency toward clinical trials for our lead breast cancer liver metastasis indication, targeting a major unmet need with a first-in-class therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

InterAct will present further details on its progress and the IAT-S2 program at the Charles River Laboratories (CRL) Cell & Gene Therapy Summit on March 25-26\u00a0in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Dr. Chan is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of InterAct Therapeutics.<\/p>\n

About UT\u00a0Southwestern Medical Center\u202f<\/p>\n

UT\u00a0Southwestern, one of the nation\u2019s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution\u2019s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 24 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 3,300 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT\u00a0Southwestern physicians in more than 80 specialties care for more than 143,000 hospitalized patients, attend to more than 470,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5.3 million outpatient visits a year.<\/p>\n

About InterAct Therapeutics Inc.<\/p>\n

InterAct is a biotechnology company dedicated to treating cancer metastasis at its source. Through our proprietary InterAct Print\u2122 platform, we identify the biological drivers of infiltration and engineer therapies to reprogram the host environment into a barrier against metastatic cancers while training host cells to become cancer killers. Our lead program, IAT-S2, is a first-in-class AAV8 gene therapy for breast cancer liver metastasis (BCLM). Beyond the liver, the InterAct Print\u2122 framework is designed to target the most common metastatic sites, including the lung and brain, utilizing a diverse toolkit of AAV, mRNA, and siRNA modalities.<\/p>\n

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