Microbix, Angiogen seek funding for new cancer drug combination

New York, June 27 - Microbix Biosystems Inc. and Angiogen LLC said they are "actively seeking" funding to support further phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of a new cancer drug combination.

The treatment has already had encouraging early results in a phase 1 human clinical trial, the companies said. It works by preventing the growth of new blood vessels, which are needed to provide essential nutrients to the growing cancer mass.

"This patented technology combines two drugs, a protein, urokinase, and a small molecule, both of which are already FDA-approved for other indications. We are hopeful, therefore, that we will be able to move quickly to market," said William J. Gastle, president and chief executive officer of Microbix, in a news release.

Angiogen's broadly patented angiostatic cocktail results in the human body itself generating an anti-cancer protein, termed angiostatin 4.5. Angiostatin 4.5 molecules bind receptors that cause endothelial cells to undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death) such that the growth of new blood vessels, that are essential to tumor development, is prevented. The growing tumor is thereby effectively starved of the nutrition needed to survive and grow. Microbix manufactures the key component of this new drug therapy, urokinase, at its facility in Toronto.

The two companies have entered into a worldwide exclusive agreement under which Angiogen will receive a royalty from sales of the treatment and Microbix will generate revenue by supplying the urokinase used in the drug cocktail.

Based in Toronto, Microbix specializes in developing proprietary biological technologies and commercializing them through global partners. Angiogen is a privately held biopharmaceutical company established in Illinois in 1999 that seeks to commercialize technologies to treat solid vascular tumors.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.