Anti-Angiogenesis Patent Awarded to Cytran's Drug IM862; Anti-Cancer Drug in Human Clinical Trials.SEATTLE--(BW HealthWire)--June 2, 1999-- The United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO or USPTO) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides patent protection to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property has awarded Cytran a patent for the anti-angiogenesis effects of the Company's lead drug, IM862, Cytran announced today. IM862, a small peptide comprised of two amino acids, is currently in a pivotal Phase III human clinical trial. The U.S. patent covers claims for IM862 to inhibit angiogenesis in a number of pathological conditions, including malignant tumors, age-related macular degeneration Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) Degeneration of the macula (the central part of the retina where the rods and cones are most dense) that leads to loss of central vision in people over 60. and vascular diseases. Angiogenesis, the aberrant growth of new blood vessels, is thought to play a critical role in many diseases, including the growth and spread of cancer. Cytran already holds patents for the immune modulating effects of IM862, as well as for methods of delivery and pharmaceutical formulations of the drug, in all major world markets. In addition to halting the growth of new blood vessels essential for tumor growth, IM862 appears to stimulate natural killer (NK) cells to attack a tumor directly by enhancing production of the cytokine interleukin-12. Promising results of a Phase I/II clinical trial using IM862 in Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, is an organization that represents all clinical oncologists. Every year, ASCO holds a large symposium where physicians and researchers meet to convey and discuss research and ideas. (ASCO) in Atlanta last month. The trial findings, presented by Parkash Gill, MD, from the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission Department of Medicine, demonstrated that over one-third of KS patients in the trial showed a major response -- either complete resolution of the KS lesions or partial reduction in tumor size -- within a median response time of six weeks of beginning treatment. Patients self-administered the drug, intranasally, as a nose drop and experienced minimal side effects. The trial was conducted at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. Norris Cancer Center, led by Dr. Gill, and at Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital Health care The major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School, widely regarded as one of the best health care centers in the world , led by David T. Scadden, MD, Harvard University. KS is the most common cancer associated with HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . A randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. , placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase III KS trial is underway at U.S. and Canadian medical centers. Cytran is also conducting a Phase I/II ovarian cancer trial and is investigating clinical trials in other cancers. IM862 is a naturally occurring peptide that can be synthesized and manufactured using conventional pharmaceutical peptide technology. Due to its small molecular weight, IM862 is bioavailable through the mucosa when administered as a nose drop. Cytran, Inc., based in Kirkland, Washington, is a privately held biopharmaceutical company, developing and commercializing small peptide compounds for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion