Theralase Presents X-Ray Activation at International World Congress
Toronto, Ontario – June 14, 2017, Theralase Technologies Inc. (“Theralase®” or the “Company”) (TSXV: TLT) (OTCQX: TLTFF), a leading biotechnology company focused on the commercialization of medical devices to eliminate pain and the development of Photo Dynamic Compounds (“PDCs”) to destroy cancer, announced today that its latest research on X-ray activation of PDCs was recently presented on June 12th, at the 16th International Photodynamic Association (“IPA”) World Congress held from June 8th to 13th, 2017 in Coimbra, Portugal.
The IPA was founded in 1986 and its membership consists of some of the most prominent international clinicians and scientists involved in performing and researching Photo Dynamic Therapy (“PDT”) and Photo Diagnosis (“PD”). The IPA promotes the study of diagnosis and clinical treatment using light and Photo Sensitizers (“PSs”), and disseminates this knowledge to IPA members, the medical community and the general public. The IPA World Congress is held every two years and is quickly becoming known as the premier forum to communicate outstanding advances in the clinical and research aspects of PDT and PD.
Pavel Kaspler, Ph.D, Theralase presented, “X-ray and Photon Mediated in-vitro and in-vivo Activity of Ruthenium(II)-Based Compounds.”
Dr. Kaspler presented how the Theralase patented PDC, TLD-1433, has demonstrated pre-clinically that it has a(n):
• Small mass of approximately 1kiloDalton (small enough in molecular weight to cross a cell’s membrane barrier)
• High Reactive Oxygen Species (“ROS”) quantum yield (close to unity for 1O2) (the higher the conversion of delivered photons of light to production of ROS, the higher the PDC’s efficacy in the destruction of cellular targets)
• High PDT efficacy (destroying cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue intact)
• Ability to absorb energy in the X-ray range (X-rays are able to pass directly through human tissue allowing significant depth of penetration)
Dr. Kaspler presented how the TLD-1433 injected intratumorally in a Balb/C mouse animal model has a greater than 90% cell kill in human GlioBlastoma Multiforme (“GBM”) cancer treated pre-clinically with a low dose of X-ray (1 Gy, 75 keV) and then activated by Near Infrared (“NIR”) laser light (808 nm, 200 J/cm2), four hours after injection.
Dr. Kaspler stated that, “X-ray followed by NIR laser light activation of TLD-1433 is a new and unexpected discovery by the members of our research team under the leadership of Dr. Arkady Mandel and Dr. Lothar Lilge. This discovery has far reaching implications, including: targeting cancers that are difficult, if not impossible to reach with conventional laser light sources, such as GBM brain tumours or deep tissue related cancers.”
Dr. Kaspler concluded in his presentation that TLD-1433 is:
• Stable under X-ray activation and remains able to produce ROS via subsequent NIR laser light activation
• Able to be activated by X-ray eliciting a PDT-like cell kill
• Able to be dually activated (X-ray followed by NIR laser) delivering a cell kill greater than the two wavelengths applied separately
• Able to destroy cancer cells predominantly via necrosis at 24 hours post treatment.
• Able to deliver noticeable damage to tumors when X-ray activated
• Able to deliver significant tumour damage when dually activated (X-ray followed by NIR laser) in the presence of transferrin
Roger Dumoulin-White, President and CEO of Theralase stated that, “Theralase is delighted that Dr. Kaspler presented the latest PDC X-ray activation results to such a respected group of international researchers and clinicians at the 16th IPA World Congress. This initial research will allow Theralase the ability to successfully complete a Phase Ib GBM clinical study for this next generation PDT technology, demonstrating: a primary outcome of safety and tolerability and a secondary outcome of pharmacokinetics.”
