Blaze Bioscience, a Seattle-based biotech company that’s using a protein borrowed from scorpion venom to make cancerous tumors glow, has passed its first clinical trial with flying colors and is on to the next stage.
Blaze’s “tumor paint” technology, called BLZ-100 or tozuleristide, helps surgeons spot and remove solid tumor cells in patients. It works by combining a fluorescent dye with a molecule that latches onto tumor cells. The dye emits near-infrared light, which surgeons can see clearly with a special imaging system.
Dr. Adam Mamelak, a neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai and senior author on the study, said the fluorescent technology makes a tumor “light up like a Christmas tree.”
