Pro-Pharmaceuticals Issued Two U.S. Patents for its Core Carbohydrate Drug Targeting & Delivery Platforms -- CARBOSOME & UCLT.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2003 Company Strengthens its Intellectual Property with Two Patents Covering the Delivery of a Therapeutic Agent & Methods and Compositions for Reducing Side Effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. in Chemotherapy Treatments Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Amex:PRW "Parents are watching." See digispeak. ), a developer of novel cancer therapeutics to target cancer cells cells once believed to be peculiar to cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and distinguished only by peculiarity of location and grouping. See also: Cancer through carbohydrate chemistry, today announced the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued two U.S. patents covering the Company's core carbohydrate drug targeting and delivery platforms: "Delivery of a Therapeutic Agent in a Formulation for Reduced Toxicity" and "Methods and Compositions for Reducing Side Effects in Chemotherapeutic Treatments". "We are very pleased to receive these two patents covering our core technologies," said Anatole Klyosov, Ph.D., Pro-Pharmaceuticals' Chief Scientist. "These patents represent the accomplishment of yet another milestone for our Company and further strengthen the Company's intellectual property related to our proprietary carbohydrate based cancer targeting and recognition technologies." U.S. Patent No. 6,645,946. "Delivery of a Therapeutic Agent in a Formulation for Reduced Toxicity." This patent covers a method and composition for reducing toxicity of an existing chemotherapeutic drug by co-administering a polysaccharide polysaccharide: see carbohydrate. polysaccharide Any of a large class of long-chain sugars composed of monosaccharides. Because the chains may be unbranched or branched and the monosaccharides may be of one, two, or occasionally more kinds, with the chemotherapeutic agent chemotherapeutic agent An agent used to treat CA, administered in 'regimens'-one or more 'cycles' that combine 3 or more agents over wks; CAs are toxic to any cell with a high rate of proliferation–the CA itself, the GI tract–causing N&V, in a liquid formulation to a patient to reduce toxicity of the agent. The Company's lead drug DAVANAT(TM) and the drug delivery platform CARBOSOME(TM) are based on this technology. The results of pre-clinical studies indicated that the DAVANAT-enhanced 5-flourouracil (5-FU) improved the chemo che·mo n. Chemotherapy or a chemotherapeutic treatment. drug's anti-cancer effectiveness, while significantly reducing its toxicity. U.S. Patent No. 6,642,205. "Methods and Compositions for Reducing Side Effects in Chemotherapeutic Treatments." This patent covers the UNIVERSAL CARBOHYDRATE LINKER TECHNOLOGY(TM) (UCLT UCLT Until Cleared to Land by the Tower UCLT Universal Central Limit Theorem UCLT Unité Centrale de Lutte Contre les Mouches Tsétsé et les Trypanosomoses Animales (TM)) developed by Pro-Pharmaceuticals. UCLT(TM) enhances the delivery of chemotherapy drugs to tumor cells by covalently binding one of the Company's carbohydrate compounds to a chemotherapy drug and utilizing carbohydrate specific receptors found on cancer cells. The results of pre-clinical studies indicated that UCLT(TM) significantly reduced toxicity of doxorubicin doxorubicin /doxo·ru·bi·cin/ (dok?so-roo´bi-sin) an antineoplastic antibiotic, produced by Streptomyces peucetius, which binds to DNA and inhibits nucleic acid synthesis; used as the hydrochloride salt and as a liposome-encased while maintaining therapeutic efficacy. In addition to the patents being announced today, the Company has on file additional U.S. and International patent applications that are pending. Pro-Pharmaceuticals is conducting Phase I human clinical trials of its DAVANAT(TM) combination with 5-FU. Cancer centers participating in the Phase I human trial are the Norris Cotton Cancer Center NCCC is the comprehensive cancer center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. It is New Hampshire's only National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center. Mark A. at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Coordinates: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) is New Hampshire's only academic medical center and is headquartered on a 225-acre campus in the heart of the Upper Connecticut River Valley, in Lebanon, New Hampshire. in Lebanon, NH; the University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, city (1990 pop. 109,592), seat of Washtenaw co., S Mich., on the Huron River; inc. 1851. It is a research and educational center, with a large number of government and industrial research and development firms, many in high-technology fields such as , MI; the Ochsner Cancer Institute in New Orleans, LA, and Florida Oncology Associates in Jacksonville, FL. For further information, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov for study DAVFU-001. Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc. -- Advancing Drugs Through Glycoscience(TM) Pro-Pharmaceuticals is a drug development company commercializing a new generation of anti-cancer treatments using carbohydrate molecules to upgrade the safety and efficacy of anti-cancer agents. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Newton, MA, the Company is a leader in the use of structure-based drug design; an approach to drug discovery that integrates advanced biology and chemistry. The Company's novel carbohydrate technology targets sugar-specific binding sites found on cancer cells with the goal of improving efficacy and reducing toxicity of proven, commonly used chemo therapy drugs. Additional information is available at www.pro-pharmaceuticals.com. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will" and similar expressions, constitute forward looking statements. Future events could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. Reference is made to the factors discussed in the "Plan of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of the Company's most recent quarterly or annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements herein represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon to represent the Company's views as of a subsequent date. While the Company anticipates that subsequent events may cause the Company's views to change, the Company disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements. DAVANAT, CARBOSOME, UCLT and Advancing Drugs Through Glycoscience are trademarks of Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
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