SMALL TIMES MAGAZINE DOES ARTICLE ON AVXYou can read it below or you can go to their website and read the Acrobat file at:
https://advectuslifesciences.com/pdfs/smallt0902.pdf
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Small Times Magazine, September / October 2002
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COMPANIES CLOSE IN ON CANCER CURES WITH NANOPARTICLES
BY JEFF KAROUB
A Canadian company said in August it was ready to start a second animal study of it nanoparticle-based treatment for brain tumors after a successful first round.
It was the latest progress from a firm that within the past 18 months has changed its name and mission, acquired a worldwide license to the patented technology and teamed up with two universities for studies.
The goal, according to Advectus Life Sciences President James Disher, is to work on as many fronts as possible so the firm can move into human trials within months and commercialize a potential cure for brain cancer in about five years.
"In our mind it’s sort of a forgone conclusion – I don’t see the results as being negative," Disher said.
It might seem too early to declare success, but Disher considers how far he and his colleagues have come.
Earlier this year, Advectus changed its name from jaguar International Equities and finalized the transition from two decades as a mining and exploration firm to biotechnology. The biotech came courtesy of a $150,000 check to Germany’s NanoPharm AG for its patented nanoparticle process. NanoPharm had sought to commercialize the technology developed by Jorg Kreuter, a German university researcher who has worked on the technology for 20 years.
Kreuter’s published studies on animals found doxorubicin, an established anti-cancer drug incorporated into the nanoparticle formulation, could cross the blood-brain barrier. The network of blood vessels and cells that protects the brain had prevented the drug and most other treatments from getting through.
Disher said Kreuter was able to cure 38 percent of the rats with brain tumors treated with the nanoparticle formulation. Advectus seeks to replicate Kreuter's findings in its new studies with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Brain Tumor Center that follow standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which must review and approve the drug before it reaches the market.
Advectus in June also announced that the University of Kentucky’s Research Foundation Center for Pharmaceutical Science and Technology will conduct manufacturing and stability studies registered by the FDA.
The company isn’t the only one trying to treat cancer and other diseases with nanoparticles, which scientist say can help drugs move more easily in the body, directly attack their target and limit side effects because of lower dosages. Another player is American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. of Los Angeles, which has begun human trials of a nanoparticle formulation of another cancer drug.
"A lot of people are trying to solve the same problem with different techniques," said Neil Gordon, a nanotech analyst with Montreal’s Sygertech Consulting Group Inc. and president of the Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance.
Gordon said Advectus’ approach is interesting and seems viable. But he said it’s far too early to forecast the fate of Advectus, American Pharmaceutical or anyone else.
"There guys are pioneers – it’s not as if it’s an industrial catalyst, where you’ve had success," he said/ "You have no feel on success rate, time to market because you’re dealing with human biology. The chance of modeling and predicting what the outcome will be is much more difficult."
Disher said the combination of Kreuter’s groundbreaking work as well as the current partnerships and studies gives him confidence they can deliver a potential solution to a pressing problem.
"There’s a clear unmet clinical need – people (with these tumors) are being told to go home and clear their affairs," Disher said. "The doctors doing research with us have to tell their patients that, so they’re on our side. They tell us if this is showing promise, let’s move as rapidly as we can."