Pro-Pharmaceuticals awarded patent for chemotherapeutic carbohydrate compound

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., March 16 - Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued the company a new patent (No. 7,012,068) entitled "Co-Administration of a Polysaccharide with a Chemotherapeutic Agent for the Treatment of Cancer."

This is the fifth U.S. patent issued that covers Pro-Pharmaceuticals' proprietary carbohydrate compounds, according to a company news release.

The new patent relates to administration of the company's Davanat, a proprietary polysaccharide polymer that enables targeted delivery of chemotherapy agents to protein receptors on cancer cells, thereby increasing efficacy and decreasing toxicity.

"We continue to strengthen our intellectual property portfolio that covers our core technologies," chief scientist Anatole Klyosov said in the release.

"We believe our expertise in developing carbohydrate-based compounds offers numerous opportunities to provide advanced treatment of cancer, as well as liver, microbial, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases and viral infections."

Pro-Pharmaceuticals said it has an ongoing U.S. phase 2 clinical trial of Davanat and 5-FU for the third- and fourth-line treatment of colorectal cancer patients who are refractory to chemotherapy, including 5-FU.

The company has also begun a phase 3 clinical trial in Europe for the second-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and a phase 2 open-label, multicenter study of Davanat with 5-FU for the first-line treatment of patients with cancer of the bile duct.

Newton, Mass.-based Pro-Pharmaceuticals is a development-stage company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of carbohydrate-based therapeutic compounds.

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