PharmaCyte Biotech Inc (PMCB)

[Deborah1]

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/106/12/dju417.full

Another approach aims to make pancreatic cancer an operable disease. Using “Cell in a Box” technology developed by Austrianova, in Singapore, this cell therapy delivers ifosfamide locally to the cancer. Ifosfamide has previously shown promise as a chemotherapy against pancreatic cancer, but its effective dose was too toxic to give patients systemically. Instead, in the “Cell in the Box” approach, patients receive one-third of the usual dose of ifosfamide. “Cell in a Box” contains genetically modified cells that express the drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 and converts the ifosfamide to its active form at the site of the tumor, according to CEO Brian Salmons, Ph.D. A catheter delivers the “Cell in a Box” capsule containing these cells to capillaries feeding the pancreas. This system of local delivery and activation greatly reduces side effects.

The European Medicines Agency fast-tracked this treatment, which is licensed to Nuvilex (Silver Spring, Md.). Nuvilex plans at least two new trials based on earlier phase I/II and phase II trials with a total of 27 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.