MOFs look like construction scaffolding: a lattice of metal-based nodes connected by organic molecules. By varying these building blocks, researchers can change the size and behavior of MOFs’ pores so that they bind specific chemicals. That versatility has enabled chemists to make more than 90,000 different MOFs, all of them stemming from the pioneering work of this year’s Nobel laureates: Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University, Japan; Richard Robson of the University of Melbourne, Australia; and Omar Yaghi at the University of California, Berkeley.
MOFs can store drugs and release them in a controlled fashion, and the first human trial testing this is now underway. Coordination Pharmaceuticals in Chicago is using a MOF called RiMO-301 in a phase 1/2 trial to deliver monoclonal antibodies such as pembrolizumab to treat head and neck cancer, in conjunction with radiotherapy. The MOF is injected into the tumor site to localize its payload. RiMO-301 also contains the metal hafnium, which can absorb some therapeutic X-rays to generate reactive oxygen species that help to kill tumor cells.
