{"id":13035,"date":"2025-11-20T11:51:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=13035"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:56:26","slug":"results-in-early-phase-clinical-trials-suggest-snake-venom-as-a-potential-cancer-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/healthcare-innovations\/results-in-early-phase-clinical-trials-suggest-snake-venom-as-a-potential-cancer-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Results in early-phase clinical trials suggest snake venom as a potential cancer therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"522\" height=\"522\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-13036\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20105835\/vicky-1763636311-Paul-lab-shot-2.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20105835\/vicky-1763636311-Paul-lab-shot-2.png 522w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20105835\/vicky-1763636311-Paul-lab-shot-2-125x125.png 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 522px) 100vw, 522px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\"><strong>Paul Reid<\/strong><\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\"><strong>CEO of Celtic Biotech<\/strong><\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"347\" height=\"347\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-13039\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20114914\/vicky-1763639353-J-Reid-boardroom-4.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20114914\/vicky-1763639353-J-Reid-boardroom-4.png 347w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20114914\/vicky-1763639353-J-Reid-boardroom-4-125x125.png 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 347px) 100vw, 347px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">John Reid<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Co-Founder of Celtic Biotech<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Irish biotech hopes to advance crotoxin, a protein in rattlesnake venom, for the treatment of cancer following results in early-phase clinical trials.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Research has long pointed to the therapeutic potential of snake venom, but associated stigma has blocked full clinical translation.One company hopes to advance its use, conducting research studies in terminal cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The therapy under investigation, CB-24 (Crotoxin), contains two subunits: A and B. \u201cOnce injected into the body via infusion pump, the A subunit actively and selectively locates malignant cells, bypassing healthy tissue. Locking on, it releases its destructive B subunit, triggering cell death,\u201d explains Paul Reid, scientist and Celtic Biotech CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-family-foundations-and-future-outlook\"><strong>Family foundations and future outlook<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul and John Reid had been looking for a potential therapy for a relative and a friend, who sadly both eventually succumbed to their cancers. Paul, the scientist behind CB-24, had harnessed existing research from a South American company to drive research efforts. Subsequently, a close friend of the brothers, with adult soft tissue sarcoma, was given little hope of survival. He undertook treatment with crotoxin and has now been cancer-free for 20 years. Following this, Celtic Biotech was formed, with early-phase trials funded by family and angel investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt has been a long and difficult road to get to this point, but we are highly motivated,\u201d explains John Reid. \u201cWe believe this could become an effective, easy-to-administer and easily tolerated treatment that will not adversely impact a patient\u2019s quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Research has long pointed to the therapeutic potential of snake venom, <br>but associated stigma has blocked full clinical translation.<a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clinical-progress-and-milestones\"><strong>Clinical progress and milestones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The therapeutic activity was confirmed by early studies from MD Anderson Cancer Center and the US National Cancer Institute, with ongoing Celtic research highlighting promising safety and preliminary efficacy in multiple solid tumours, including lung, brain, breast, prostate and ovarian cancer. Most recently, Celtic Biotech presented their Phase 1b clinical data at ESMO in Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPhase Ia\/Ib trials have demonstrated good safety and encouraging signs of activity, and Phase Ic trials with higher dosing are approved and planned for early 2026,\u201d says Paul Reid. Another therapy in their product pipeline, sourced from cobra venom, is CB-6 (Cobramine). CB-6 exhibits anti-inflammatory properties and anti-metastatic activity. Academic institutes in France, the US, Brazil and China are contributing to their accumulation of scientific evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center\" style=\"grid-template-columns:15% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"164\" height=\"209\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/24105346\/vicky-1771930426-image-10.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13293 size-full\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Celtic Biotech is an Enterprise Ireland HPSU Client and an EU EIC Accelerator grantee.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Irish biotech hopes to advance crotoxin, a protein in rattlesnake venom, for the treatment of cancer following results in early-phase clinical trials. Research has long pointed to the therapeutic potential of snake venom, but associated stigma has blocked full clinical translation.One company hopes to advance its use, conducting research studies in terminal cancer. The therapy &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/healthcare-innovations\/results-in-early-phase-clinical-trials-suggest-snake-venom-as-a-potential-cancer-therapy\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":13041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5973],"tags":[5995],"class_list":["post-13035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare-innovations","tag-healthcare-innovations"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20115923\/vicky-1763639961-GettyImages-2196693304-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/11\/20115923\/vicky-1763639961-GettyImages-2196693304-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Mica Robertson","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/micarobertson\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":5973,"order":"1"}],"vicky_index_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13035"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13297,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13035\/revisions\/13297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}