Yubin Miao, Ph.D.

Yubin Miao, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Department of Dermatology
Health Sciences Center
The University of New Mexico
SolaranRx (STC start-up)

Dr. Miao has disclosed eight inventions, received one issued U. S. patent, has five pending patent applications, and one option to license agreement with local start-up company SolaranRx for his radiolabeled peptides technology for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Dr. Miao received gap funding in 2011 from STC’s gap fund program to develop the radiolabeled peptides technology.

The radiolabeled peptides technology, combined with commercially available radionuclides, targets a receptor selectively overexpressed on melanoma cells. Tumor metastasis can thus be imaged to identify and treat patients. The technology demonstrates highly specific binding to melanoma cells, targeting the melanocortin-1 recept or present in about 80 percent of human metastatic melanoma samples. The peptide, carrying an imaging or therapeutic radionuclide, allows doctors to select patients for treatment, deliver targeted radiation, and visualize patient response. This merger between therapeutics and diagnostics—often referred to as theranostics—constitutes a new level of personalized medicine for treating metastatic melanoma.

Skin cancers are the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States. Although melanoma accounts for 75percent of all skin cancer-related deaths, it represents less than five percent of diagnosed skin cancers. Nearly one million Americans are afflicted with melanoma. There is no known curative treatment once the melanoma spreads or metastasizes to other parts of the body. Current treatment options have serious, sometimes fatal, side effects and often benefit only a limited number of patients at great cost. There is a significant unmet need for alternative treatments.

Dr. Miao’s research interests focus on developing novel radiolabeled peptides for cancer (melanoma, breast andprostate cancers) diagnosis and treatment. He and his research team are using radiolabeled peptides to target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) over-expressed on cancer cells for cancer detection and therapy. Rad iolabeled peptides are attractive probes for cancer imaging and therapy due to their nanomolar binding affinities with the GPCRs over-expressed on cancer cells.

Issued U. S. Patent

Pending Patent Applications

• ARG-GLY-ASP-conjugated Alpha-melanocyte Stimulating Hormone Hybrid Peptide for Use in Diagnosing and Treating Melanoma, Including Metastatic Melanoma and Methods Related to Same
• Novel Radiolabeled Peptides for Melanoma Imaging and Therapy
• Novel Gonadotropin-releasing Hormone Receptor-targeting Peptides and Their Use to Treat and Diagnose Cancer
• Radiolabeled Alpha-melanocyte Stimulating Hormone Hybrid Peptide for Melanoma Targeting
• Compounds and Methods for Use in Diagnosing and Treating Melanoma, Including Metastatic Melanoma and Methods Related to Same