'Cancer Research' Publishes Promising Pre-Clinical Results on Celsion's Heat-Activated Gene Therapy Technology.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2003 Celsion Corporation (AMEX AMEX See: American Stock Exchange :CLN) today announced the publication, in "Cancer Research", Volume 63, dated June 15, 2003, of the results of pre-clinical research by Dr. Gloria Li, Attending Biophysicist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, with other locations in New in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . The article provides a comprehensive summary of the scientific and clinical rationale leading to the successful development of a heat-activated antisense genetic biological modifier and the preclinical evaluations, which demonstrated the feasibility of its use as a potent radiation sensitizer for the treatment of cancer. Celsion has a worldwide exclusive license to the proprietary technology discussed in this article. Dr. Li has identified the process and a component protein responsible for repairing DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. double-strand breaks after the DNA of the tumor cells has been damaged by radiation or chemotherapy. A gene therapy viral vector containing the antisense sequence under the control of a heat-activated promoter was developed. In the study, Dr. Li evaluated the feasibility of whether the heat-activated antisense gene therapy could be used to sensitize sen·si·tize v. To make hypersensitive or reactive to an antigen, such as pollen, especially by repeated exposure. tumor cells to radiation. Their results clearly demonstrate that infection of tumor cells with these viral vectors significantly sensitize animal tumor models to ionizing radiation. Dr. Li indicated, "This work demonstrates the potential of using heat-activated gene therapy to significantly enhance radiosensitivity radiosensitivity /ra·dio·sen·si·tiv·i·ty/ (ra?de-o-sen?si-tiv´i-te) sensitivity, as of the skin, tumor tissue, etc., to radiant energy, such as x-rays or other radiation. in tumor cells. By extension, the same principle should apply to increasing the sensitivity of tumor cells to other DNA damaging chemotherapeutic drugs. I look forward to moving this research into advanced pre-clinical studies and human clinical trials." Dr Augustine Cheung, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer for Celsion, stated, "Although gene based therapies have shown great promise, to date scientists have been unable to reliably deliver and contain the gene therapy at the targeted site. By using a combination of a non-replicating virus and heat-activated antisense, together with Celsion's focused heat technologies, Dr. Li is developing a treatment approach, which has the potential to overcome these obstacles. This technology shows tremendous promise for the development of a product that will enhance the success of radiation and chemotherapy by inhibiting the cancer cells from repairing themselves after therapy. If it continues to perform as successfully in additional pre-clinical and clinical trials, it could represent a major advance in cancer treatment by making existing therapies more effective and shorter in duration while minimizing side effects. This technology could be a tremendous asset as Celsion focuses on developing products for the $15 billion cancer treatment market." About Celsion: Celsion Corporation, based in Columbia, Maryland, is a research and development company dedicated to commercializing medical treatment systems for cancer and other diseases using focused-heat technology delivered by patented microwave technology. In January 2003, Celsion entered into a strategic alliance with Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BSX) in which Boston Scientific will initially distribute Celsion's BPH product worldwide. Boston Scientific currently owns approximately 8% of Celsion's outstanding stock. Celsion has research, license or commercialization agreements with leading institutions such as Duke University Medical Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, , Harbor UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. , the Center for Breast Surgery at Columbia Hospital in Florida, Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center, in the Bronx, New York, is the university hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The hospital, named after Moses Montefiore, is one of the 50 largest employers in New York State [1]. , Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, Roswell Park Cancer Institute The Roswell Park Cancer Institute is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded in 1898 by Dr. Roswell Park, it was the first dedicated medical facility for cancer treatment and research in the United States. in Buffalo, New York, and Duke University. For more information on Celsion, visit our website: www.celsion.com. Celsion wishes to inform readers that forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of research and development activities and in clinical trials by others; possible acquisitions of other technologies, assets or businesses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors, regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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