'Old' drug offers new hope in cancer fight
- From: J <nexsw@nvalid,anon>
- Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:50:17 -0400
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=115&id=1212072007
'Old' drug offers new hope in cancer fight
FRANK URQUHART (furquhart@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
SCOTTISH scientists have discovered that a drug, originally developed to
treat schizophrenia, could offer fresh hope in the fight against cancer.
The breakthrough has been made by researchers at Dundee University who
have proved that the drug, rimcazole, has the ability to destroy cancer
cells while leaving healthy tissue alone.
The researchers belive that the "smart" drug could provide an important
new treatment for a range of cancers. And, because the drug has already
been used in trials on humans, rimcazole could be on the market within
just four years.
It was revealed yesterday that the university has reached an agreement to
grant an exclusive worldwide licence to a major drug development company,
Modern Biosciences, to manage the development programme in what could
prove a lucrative money-spinning deal for the university.
The development of rimcazole for the treatment of cancer has been made
possible through the groundbreaking research of Dr Barbara Spruce and her
team at the university. Dr Spruce's work has focussed on the so-called
"sigma-1 receptor", which has been the subject of considerable
pharmaceutical research in the field of psychiatric and neurological
disorders.
Dr Spruce said: "We are very excited about the potential of this drug.
Certainly the anti- tumour studies so far in the laboratory look very
promising indeed and the next step is to test that in humans.
"The drug is showing promise in a broad range of cancer types, most
possibly all cancer types. But we suspect it will be more effective in
some groups of patients and there will almost certainly be a selection
process to select the best patients to treat."
The drug was originally developed in the 1980s as a treatment for
schizophrenia but was never licensed as more effective medication was
developed.
Dr Spruce explained: "Through our work we discovered that the target
molecule that rimcazole binds to can also protect cells from the natural
cell suicide process called apoptosis. It restores this natural
self-destruct mechanism in cancer cells, but it doesn't do so in normal
cells."
The drug also had several features that made it particularly promising for
the treatment of cancer. It can be taken orally, it prevents the growth of
blood vessels within tumours and has very few toxic side effects.
She said the fact that she and her team had discovered a new use for an
"old" drug meant that the development of the drug could be fast-tracked.
Clinical trials are expected to begin within a year and the drug could be
on the market within four years.
Dr Sam Williams, chief executive of Modern Biosciences, said: "We are very
excited to be in a position to start the clinical development of
rimcazole. It has great promise as a selective cancer agent."
<
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers/news/662/University_Of_Dundee_And_Modern_Biosciences_PLC_To_Develop_Novel_Cancer_Drug
University Of Dundee And Modern Biosciences PLC To Develop Novel Cancer
Drug
Friday, 3 August, 2007 ? University of Dundee
The University of Dundee and Modern Biosciences plc, the drug development
company, have entered into an agreement to develop a new treatment for
cancer, rimcazole.
Under the terms of this agreement, the University will grant an exclusive
worldwide licence to Modern Biosciences for the development of rimcazole
in cancer and Modern Biosciences will fund and manage the development
programme. Revenues generated through commercialisation of the drug will
be shared by Modern Biosciences and the University. Modern Biosciences
expects rimcazole to be in clinical trials in patients within a year.
Rimcazole represents a highly attractive drug development candidate as it
has already been the subject of a clinical trial programme in a different
therapeutic area, schizophrenia. The re-profiling of rimcazole for cancer
is lower risk than a normal development programme as there is already a
considerable amount of pre-clinical and clinical safety data available.
These data will allow Modern Biosciences to move into Phase I trials
rapidly.
Rimcazole has several features that make it particularly promising for the
treatment of cancer:
? it is a small molecule drug that can be taken orally;
? it works via a dual mechanism of action that makes it highly potent -
stimulating apoptosis (cell ?suicide') and preventing angiogenesis (the
growth of blood vessels) within tumours;
? it works against a broad range of cancer types, including those that are
resistant to existing drugs;
? it has very little toxic effect towards normal, healthy tissues, which
means it is likely to have a low side effect profile.
The development of rimcazole for the treatment of cancer has been
madepossible through the groundbreaking research of Dr Barbara Spruce and
her team at the University of Dundee. Dr Spruce's work has focussed on
the so-called ?sigma-1 receptor', which has been the subject of
considerable pharmaceutical research in the field of psychiatric and
neurological disorders.
Dr Spruce and her team were the first to show that agents that bind to the
sigma-1 receptor (such as rimcazole) cause tumour cells, but not normal
cells, to undergo apoptosis. In recognition of her work, Dr Spruce
received the inaugural Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh in 2003.
The University, with the help of funding from the Wellcome Trust, the
North-East Scotland Technology Fund (NESTech) and Scottish Enterprise, has
progressed rimcazole to the point of clinical development, a unique
achievement within a Scottish university.
Modern Biosciences plans to initiate Phase I dosing studies in healthy
volunteers this year.
Phase Ib trials, which will monitor tumour growth and several biomarkers
that are indicators of disease progression, are expected to start in 2008.
Modern Biosciences believes that proof-of-concept data for rimcazole in
cancer could be available within two years.
Dr James Houston, Director, Research and Innovation Services at the
University of Dundee, said: "We are delighted to see rimcazole progressing
towards clinical trials in cancer. The deal with Modern Biosciences
represents the culmination of years of hard and innovating work from Dr
Spruce's research group and the University of Dundee,
which has developed the project to a point where it is ready for clinical
trials. The decision to develop rimcazole to this stage is an unusual and
bold move by an academic organisation. We are extremely grateful to The
Wellcome Trust, NESTech and Scottish Enterprise for supporting Dr Spruce's
work and we are very pleased to be collaborating with Modern Biosciences
and its team of drug development experts."
Dr Sam Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Modern Biosciences, said: "We
are very excited to be in a position to start the clinical development of
rimcazole which has great promise as a selective cancer agent with a
benign side effect profile. The re-profiling of rimcazole is perfectly
suited to Modern Biosciences' model which aims to quickly
generate proof-of-concept data in man as a means to substantially
increasing the value of its projects. We are also delighted to be working
with Dundee and Dr Spruce to capitalise on their ground-breaking
research."
Dr Barbara Spruce, senior lecturer in the Department of Surgery and
Molecular Oncology at the University of Dundee, said, "One of the major
problems with cancerous cells is that their ability to commit the normal
process of `cell suicide' or ?apoptosis' is reduced.
Apoptosis is a natural self-defence mechanism designed to rid the body of
rogue or damaged cells. If apoptosis fails, flawed cells survive when they
shouldn't and this includes cancerous cells. Rimcazole appears to restore
apoptosis to cancerous cells, causing them to self-destruct but without
doing so in normal cells. Our results lead us to believe that rimcazole
will produce good anti-tumour effects while, crucially, sparing healthy
cells.
"I would like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of my team and
the help of my many collaborators at the University of Dundee, including
Dr Neil Perkins and Dr Alan Prescott; and also collaborators outside
Dundee, in particular Dr Suzanne Eccles at the Institute for Cancer
Research, Sutton, Surrey."
Dr Richard Seabrook, Head of Business Development at The Wellcome Trust's
Technology Transfer Division, said "This is a very good example of how
excellent science, conducted in a university environment, can reveal a new
therapeutic intervention for adoption by industry and is exactly the type
of outcome the Trust seeks from its translation award funding."
Jill Farrell, director of operations at Scottish Enterprise Tayside, said:
"This exciting development is excellent news for Scotland's life sciences
profile. SE Tayside first supported this project more than seven years
ago, which illustrates the need for a long term approach in this sector.
We are delighted that this approach has enabled Dundee to secure such
internationally reknowned expertise."
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