Theralase Researcher Discovers Super Potent Anti-Cancer Drugs
Toronto, Ontario – November 13, 2017, Theralase Technologies Inc. (“Theralase®” or the “Company”) (TSXV: TLT) (OTCQX: TLTFF), a leading biotech company focused on the commercialization of medical lasers to eliminate pain and the development of Photo Dynamic Compounds (“PDCs”) to destroy cancer has recently identified a new platform of super potent anti-cancer drugs, or PDCs, discovered by Dr. Sherri McFarland, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the original inventor of the Theralase licenced ruthenium-based PDCs.
Dr. McFarland has discovered a new generation of PDCs, that are 10 billion times more potent in killing cancer cells than other tested PDCs. It only takes a few molecules of the new PDCs to kill cancer cells, in vitro, when activated by visible light.
The new PDCs also exhibit very low, in vitro, dark cytotoxicity (cancer cell kill in the absence of light), providing a very low toxicity to cells.
This photocytotoxicity (cancer cell kill in the presence of light) activity has been optimized, without increasing the dark cytotoxicity (see figure below).
These next generation PDCs are thus able to increase in vitro therapeutic margins (ability to kill cancer cells when light activated versus when not light activated) by ten orders of magnitude over tested PDCs and were conceived by Dr. McFarland by designing the most potent PDCs for systemic (IntraVenous or (“IV”)) patient administration at the lowest possible dose.
The preliminary data, obtained to date, demonstrates that the new PDCs exhibit preferential properties for IV delivery and are thus able to greatly expand the scope of cancers that can be targeted by this new platform PDT technology.
Dr. McFarland stated that, “I am delighted that we have discovered new PDCs that are able to increase the Photo Dynamic Therapy (“PDT”) potency over other tested PDCs by ten orders of magnitude (10,000,000,000 times), using highly specialized methodologies and formulations. The very large and unprecedented therapeutic margins make safe, IV systemic delivery of these new PDCs that much more possible, vastly increasing the number of cancers that can be targeted with this PDT technology. With our PDC TLD-1433 showing promise in a Phase Ib clinical trial for treating Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (“NMIBC”) with PDT, it is an exciting time to be working closely with the Theralase team on the development of the next generation PDCs for hard-to-treat cancers such as GlioBlastoma Multiforme (“GBM”), a deadly form of brain cancer.”
Dr. Arkady Mandel, MD, PhD, DSc, Chief Scientific Officer of Theralase stated that, “The ability to increase the light toxicity of the PDC by ten orders of magnitude without affecting the dark toxicity of the PDC, is a dramatic discovery. The in vitro results presented by Dr. McFarland opens up a tremendous opportunity to develop and clinically evaluate a new PDT technology platform that may mitigate the risk of systemic toxicity, while offering an exceptional potency in the destruction of cancer cells; hence, safely and effectively, destroying a greater quantity of cancer cells per single treatment. This provides the Company with an opportunity to establish a new realm in the types of cancers that can safely and effectively be treated with this cutting-edge PDT technology.”
Roger Dumoulin-White, P.Eng, President and CEO of Theralase stated that, “Theralase, in its collaborative research partnership with Dr. McFarland, continues to push the envelope on what these PDCs are capable of in the destruction of cancer cells. I look forward to scaling up the manufacture of these new PDCs to allow use in a new Phase Ib clinical study.”
