Trethera Secures $2.3M NIH Grant for Prostate Cancer Drug-Radiation Combo Study

Trethera Corporation, a Los Angeles-based biopharmaceutical company, has secured $2.3 million in federal funding to pursue an unconventional approach to one of cancer's most lethal forms. The National Institute of Health awarded the Small Business Innovation Research grant to test TRE-515, the company's lead drug candidate, in combination with radiation therapy against metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer—a disease that kills seven in ten patients within five years of diagnosis.

The strategy rests on a specific metabolic vulnerability. TRE-515 works by blocking deoxycytidine kinase, an enzyme that cancer cells depend on to build DNA. When radiation damages a cancer cell's genetic material, the cell must scramble to gather the molecular building blocks needed for repair. By shutting down that pathway simultaneously, the drug and radiation work in concert to trap cancer cells in a state they cannot recover from. The company's chairman and CEO, Dr. Ken Schultz, framed the grant as validation of this reasoning. "Combining TRE-515 with precision-guided radiation therapies aims to exploit a metabolic vulnerability in prostate cancer cells and extend survival for patients who have few viable options," he said in a statement.

The timing of the award carries particular weight. Less than a month earlier, the FDA granted TRE-515 Fast Track designation for the same indication—a rare dual validation that signals serious scientific interest from both federal agencies. The NIH peer review panel, in its written assessment, noted "strong preliminary data" supporting TRE-515 as an effective and specific inhibitor of the target enzyme, and suggested the combination approach "will likely lead to proof of concept that combining TRE-515 with radiation will be an effective approach for preventing resistance." Reviewers also flagged the drug's commercial potential and noted it had shown no toxicity in dose escalation studies.

The need is substantial. Globally, 1.5 million men receive a prostate cancer diagnosis each year, with over 40,000 deaths annually. For those whose disease becomes resistant to hormone therapy and spreads beyond the prostate—the metastatic castration-resistant form—options narrow sharply. The FDA-approved targeted radiation therapies that have reshaped treatment in this space carry a 29.8 percent response rate. That statistic inverts to a stark reality: seven out of ten men experience no clinical benefit from these treatments. Dr. Michael Shepard, a Lasker Prize laureate serving on Trethera's scientific advisory board, called the disease "devastating" and suggested that a novel first-in-class drug paired with radiation "could redefine treatment."

The $2.3 million grant will fund preclinical testing of TRE-515 combined with standard-of-care radiation in mouse models of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The work is designed to generate the evidence needed to move toward human trials. Trethera was founded by UCLA scientists and remains privately held. The company is also developing TRE-515 for autoimmune diseases and has received orphan drug designation from the FDA for two neurologic autoimmune conditions. The preclinical work now underway will either strengthen the case for clinical advancement or reveal obstacles that need solving before patients can be enrolled.