SAN DIEGO, June 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AXIM® Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTCQB: AXIM) (“AXIM® Biotech,” “AXIM” or “the Company”), an international healthcare solutions company targeting oncological research, announced today that its subsidiary Sapphire Biotech, Inc. (“Sapphire”) has started pre-clinical animal drug studies on its new compound, SPX-1009.
“We look forward to the next step in the race to finding a cure for cancer,” said John W. Huemoeller II, Chief Executive Officer of AXIM® Biotech. “After very positive in vitro studies, this pharmacokinetic animal study will tell us whether we have a potential drug candidate for humans. Because it is an analog of a drug that has already completed animal studies, we expect positive results.”
Quiescin Sulfhydryl Oxidase 1 (QSOX1), an enzyme that is over-expressed by tumor cells in numerous cancers, has been shown to be involved in cancer invasion and metastasis. Earlier this year, Sapphire acquired exclusive license rights to a small molecule, SBI-183. SBI-183 has been proven to inhibit the enzymatic activity of QSOX1 and suppress tumor cell invasion in vitro and metastasis of MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cells in vivo. SBI-183 also suppressed human xenograft primary kidney tumor growth by 86 percent compared to controls.
Sapphire scientists have generated and tested over 90 analogs of SBI-183 and discovered that one analog, SPX-1009, was tenfold more potent than SBI-183 in suppressing tumor invasion and metastasis in vitro. Further testing revealed that SPX-1009 suppressed invasion of breast, kidney and pancreas tumor cells in 2D and 3D invasion assays at tenfold lower concentrations than the parent compound SBI-183.
Oral and intravenous therapy (IV) formulations of SPX-1009 are being tested in pharmacokinetic animal studies to determine the optimal route of treatment.
“We are hopeful that SPX-1009 will block metastasis in patients which, after all, is what causes death in the vast majority of cancer patients,” said Catalina Valencia, Chief Executive Officer of Sapphire Biotech.
For more information about AXIM, please visit www.aximbiotech.com.
