Anti-tumour drug more potent with light-directed delivery. PCI
Biotech's light-activated drug delive
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Oslo, 19 August, 2009 - The effects of tumour-targeting drugs in miceare significantly enhanced by PCI Biotech's light-activated deliverysystem, a new study shows.Researchers say this dual therapy approach could be employed toincrease the effect and lower the side effects of anti-cancer drugsin humans.The researchers tested the approach on mice with human non-pigmentedmelanoma skin cancer grafts, using a drug consisting of a very potenttoxin fused to an antibody fragment that recognizes a proteincommonly found on the cancer cells, but not on normal cells. Thisallowed them to target the tumour cells specifically. Whilst drugtherapy alone did not significantly slow growth of the tumours, usingPCI to enhance the delivery process substantially improved theresults.Thus, in mice treated with both PCI and the tumour-targeting drug,half of the animals did not reach the defined end point for tumourgrowth, even by the end of the study (after 110 days). By contrast,all the mice receiving the drug alone had reached the endpoint afterjust 40 days, which was not significantly different from what wasseen in untreated control animals. There were also no adverse effectson the mice, indicating that PCI technology can allow the use of drugdoses so low that unwanted side effects in humans could besubstantially reduced.The study, by researchers at the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo,Norway, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, ispublished in the journal PLoS ONE.Lead author of the study, Dr. Pål K. Selbo, comments: "In this studywe have used an advanced biotechnological drug that consists of aprotein toxin fused to a cancer-targeting moiety. The combination ofthe tumour targeting by the antibody and the light-directed drugdelivery achieved by PCI gives extraordinarily specific therapy,effectively combining two different principles for specificallytargeting the tumour cells. The increased delivery efficiency offeredby the PCI technology makes it possible to achieve very goodtherapeutic effects with drug doses substantially lower than what isnecessary without the help of PCI. The study demonstrates theexcellent effect of the PCI technology with a very promising class ofanticancer drugs, and could pave the way for the efficient and safeuse of such drugs in humans."Per Walday, CEO of PCI Biotech, adds: "This study furtherdemonstrates the potential of the PCI technology in combination withimportant new classes of therapies. These results clearly demonstratethat PCI as a modality may greatly improve the efficacy ofcell-targeted therapeutic agents. Our main priority going forward isto move the PCI technology into the clinic, to prove its safety andefficacy in man."Notes to editorsPCI Biotech is a Norwegian biopharmaceutical company developing anovel light directed drug delivery system based on its patentedphotochemical internalisation (PCI) technology. Originating fromworld leading research at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, the PCImethod involves first injecting target cells with a photosensitiser.Therapeutic molecules are then delivered to the cells and when theseare illuminated the cells' endosomes are ruptured to allow successfuldelivery of the drug.PCI can enhance the delivery of all molecules taken into the cell byendocytosis. This includes most types of macromolecules, drugscarried by antibodies or nanoparticles, as well as some smallmolecule drugs. In addition, PCI can facilitate the use of efficient,but very toxic anti-cancer compounds, by restricting their effects tothe target site.PCI Biotech follows a dual strategy of using its technology toimprove the effect both of existing drugs and of emerging treatmentssuch as gene therapy. PCI Biotech's first clinical study combines theproprietary photosensitiser Amphinex® with the cytotoxic agentbleomycin and is scheduled for start in 2009.For more information visit: www.pcibiotech.comContact:Per WaldayChief Executive OfficerOffice: +47 2325 4002Mobile: +47 917 93 429Email: pw(at)pcibiotech.noFor international press enquiries:Richard HayhurstHayhurst MediaTel: +44 (0) 7711821527Email: richard(at)hayhurstmedia.comThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 19.08.2009 - 08:01 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
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Biotech's light-activated drug delive"
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