Treating Tumors from the Inside

3 August 2026

Cancer treatment has traditionally relied on medicines that travel through the bloodstream to reach tumors. But what if, instead of sending a drug throughout the body, we could deliver it directly where it is needed?

This is the idea behind localized drug delivery.

OncoLize is developing ChemoGell™, an injectable hydrogel platform designed to deliver oncology drugs directly into solid tumors. By creating a localized drug depot inside the tumor, the technology aims to keep treatment where it is needed and reduce unnecessary exposure elsewhere in the body.

A different way to deliver cancer treatment

Many cancer drugs are highly effective against tumor cells, but systemic administration can create a difficult balance. The drug needs to reach the tumor at a sufficient concentration, while exposure to healthy tissues should be kept as low as possible.

Localized drug delivery takes a different approach. Instead of relying entirely on the circulation to transport the drug to the tumor, the treatment is placed directly at the target site.

For accessible solid tumors, this can potentially create a higher local concentration of the drug while reducing systemic exposure.

From liquid to localized depot

ChemoGell™ is designed around a simple but important concept.

The formulation is initially a liquid, allowing it to be delivered through a thin needle, catheter or endoscope. Once injected into the tumor, the thermo-responsive formulation rapidly transforms into a soft hydrogel depot within seconds.

The resulting depot remains localized at the injection site and acts as a reservoir for the oncology drug.

This means the drug does not simply disperse immediately after injection. Instead, the formulation is designed to keep the treatment concentrated within the tumor environment.

Gradual drug release over time

The ChemoGell™ depot gradually degrades and releases the loaded drug over time.

Depending on the formulation, the drug and the tumor mass, release can take place over hours to several days. This sustained release is intended to maintain drug exposure at the tumor site for a defined period rather than delivering the entire dose at once.

The approach could therefore combine two important characteristics of localized treatment: direct delivery to the tumor and sustained release over time.

Why local concentration matters

The aim of localized drug delivery is not simply to change where a drug is administered. It is to change the distribution of the treatment throughout the body.

With conventional systemic administration, a drug can circulate through healthy tissues before and after reaching the tumor. With a localized depot, the goal is to concentrate more of the treatment at the target site.

Preclinical studies with the ChemoGell™ platform have demonstrated substantially higher drug efficacy in target tissue compared with systemic administration in specific animal models. These findings support further investigation of localized delivery as a potential way to improve the therapeutic window of established oncology drugs.

Designed for different ways of reaching a tumor

ChemoGell™ formulations are designed to be injectable through thin needles, catheters and endoscopic approaches.

This flexibility is important because tumors can be located in different parts of the body and may require different methods of access.

For example, image-guided procedures can be used to target tumors with a needle or catheter. The ChemoGell™ depot is also imageable using CT and ultrasound, which may support image-guided delivery approaches.

A platform rather than a single drug

Another feature of the ChemoGell™ technology is its potential compatibility with different types of oncology drugs.

The platform has been investigated with established drugs including Gemcitabine, Paclitaxel and Cis-Platinum, as well as a proprietary peptide.

This platform approach could allow different drug candidates and therapeutic strategies to be explored using the same underlying delivery technology.

OncoLize is particularly focused on pancreatic cancer, while the broader platform is being developed for a range of solid tumor applications.

The potential patient benefit

The ultimate goal of localized drug delivery is to improve the balance between treatment effectiveness and treatment burden.

By delivering therapy directly into a tumor and maintaining the drug locally, OncoLize aims to increase exposure where it matters while reducing unnecessary exposure to the rest of the body.

This could potentially contribute to greater local treatment effectiveness and fewer systemic side effects. However, these potential benefits still need to be evaluated through further preclinical development and, ultimately, clinical trials in humans.

From concept to clinical development

Developing a new drug-delivery technology is a multi-stage process. Promising laboratory and animal results must be followed by safety assessments, manufacturing development, regulatory preparation and clinical research.

OncoLize is progressing the ChemoGell™ platform towards these next stages, with pancreatic cancer as its primary focus.

The objective is not simply to create another way of administering chemotherapy. It is to explore whether treating tumors from the inside can provide a more localized, controlled and potentially more patient-friendly approach to cancer treatment.

Treating the tumor where it matters

The principle behind ChemoGell™ can be summarized simply: put the treatment where it is needed, keep it there, and release it over time.

By turning a liquid formulation into a localized drug depot inside the tumor, OncoLize is developing a new approach to cancer drug delivery.

The patent-protected technology remains under development, but its potential is clear: a future in which cancer treatment can be delivered more precisely, with more of the drug focused on the tumor and less exposure to the rest of the body.

Learn more about OncoLize, its technology and the company's investment opportunity through at our investors page.