Helix BioPharma Corp. signs L-DOS47 manufacturing agreement with BioVectra dcl
Helix BioPharma Corp. announced that it has signed an agreement with BioVectra, a division of Diagnostic Chemicals Limited ("BioVectra dcl"), to manufacture L-DOS47 bulk drug product for human clinical testing.
During 2007, Helix intends to continue to work diligently on completing the remaining preclinical animal testing work with L-DOS47, in parallel with finalizing its clinical manufacturing activities. In working to complete this program, Helix is focused on its path toward pursuing the necessary regulatory authorizations thereafter to conduct a Phase I clinical trial with L-DOS47 in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung.
L-DOS47 combines Helix's proprietary DOS47drug candidate with a highly specific single domain antibody to form a potential new targeted drug product for the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the lung. L-DOS47 is thought to function by leveraging a natural process in the body called the urea cycle to produce an anti-cancer effect. It is based upon a naturally occurring enzyme called urease that essentially reverses the urea cycle by breaking down urea into metabolites that include ammonia and hydroxyl ions. By doing so at the site of cancerous tissues in the body, L-DOS47 is believed to modify the microenvironmental conditions of lung cancer cells in a manner that leads to their death. Among these theorized effects, L-DOS47 is believed to stimulate an increase in the pH of the microenvironment surrounding the cancerous cells, effectively reversing the acidic extra-cellular conditions that are known to be necessary for cancer cell survival. As well, the local production of ammonia at the site of cancerous tissues is thought to readily diffuse into the cancer cells to exert a potent cytotoxic effect by interfering with their critical metabolic functions.
Other news from the department business & finance
