GenPat77 licenses novel cancer therapy from Charité

11-Dec-2006

GenPat77 announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to an advanced investigational cancer therapy, GP7.1, from the Charité University of medicine in Berlin.

GP7.1 has already been evaluated in a pilot clinical study in patients with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that attacks nerve cells and predominantly affects children. These initial results showed that GP7.1 was well tolerated and produced substantially reduced adverse reactions compared with current treatment. Common sided effects associated with the current standard of care, multiple agent chemotherapy, are abnormal bleeding or blood clotting, and damage to nerves, kidneys and liver. In addition, in laboratory tests, potency against several multi-drug resistance models has been demonstrated with GP7.1, together with significantly reduced systemic toxicity and improved efficacy in animal models of cancer.

"We were attracted by the prospects of GP7.1 as it halts cancer progression via inhibition of topoisomerase, a naturally occurring enzyme involved in the replication of cells, one of the causes of cancer growth and spread in the body. Moreover, it has beneficial effects on multi-drug resistant as well as non-resistant tumours, and was well tolerated in children," said Dr. Nalân Utku, CEO of GenPat77.

GenPat77 has secured a GMP manufacturing source and assembled an international core group of investigators ahead of initiating the first of a multi-stage clinical trial process.

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