Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[cjgaddy]

Dr. Ralph Mason’s 2-2006 Video Lecture on Imaging Innovations at Texas A&M. Includes ~6 minutes on 3G4/Bavi’s moa and imaging/therapeutic anti-cancer potential. (Nice find, JBM – repeating here for linking to iBox)

VIDEO: “Diagnosing & Treating Cancer with General Chemistry: A Role for Innovations with Imaging”
Dr. Ralph Mason, Professor of Radiology, UTSW-MC/Dallas [Thorpe colleague]
Inaugural Lecture for the 1st Year Pgm. in Chemistry (Texas A&M)
Produced by: Texas A&M Univ., Feb. 2, 2006
Goal: Bridge Classroom Curriculum with The Real World
Description: How can we apply chemistry to biomedical problems? How can we move from current practices to the future whereby we may be able to eradicate cancer and improve the outlook for everyone? Dr. Ralph Mason, a leader in diagnostics and imaging, discusses his team's research and ways he applies his natural sciences and chemistry background to search for better detection techniques.
INTRO BY DR. ERIC SIMANEK: “…Dr. Mason is a recognized world leader in diagnostic medical imaging. Statistically, half the people in this room are going to come down with cancer, and most of us will succumb to it. It’s folks like Dr. Mason who are doing research and clinical aspects that should prolong all of our lifetimes… In 2004 he was honored as a charter scientist as a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Eur. Union...”

RealPlayer Video (len: 56:56)
http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayinst.aspx?fID=839

DR. MASON QUOTES (2-2-06):
28:20: “Most tumors in patients grown much more slowly in patients than in animal models.”
31:40 [BAVI STARTS, ~6mins]: “Next I’d like to turn to receptor expression. The molecule Phosphotidylserine [PS] exists in the lipid membrane bilayer of all cells. Normally, there are enzymes, scramblases and flippases, that ensure that this lipid wall faces onto the inside of the cells [“Flippases, along with floppases and scramblases, belong to a family of enzymes that control lipid distribution across cell membranes”]. But, under stress conditions, those enzymes fail, and some of it is exposed on the outside of the cells. And, not just on the outside of cells, but in fact on the outside of the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels. Therefore, we may be able to detect this molecule in the body. And, in fact here we have antibodies designed to detect PS [Slide: 3G4 Vatuximab(ch3G4) Tarvacin]... The beauty of this target, then, for attacking tumors, is that it is directly assessable to the blood. Because, whenever you have a drug, how will you get it to the tumor? If it’s inside the blood vessels, you’ve got direct access… This antibody already goes by a number of acronyms. When my colleague, Phil Thorpe, first discovered it, it was called 3G4. Then he humanized it, so it became chimeric 3G4 having the USAN name vatuximab [henceforth chgd. to bavituximab], and they’re hoping to develop a trademark Tarvacin, and it is entering clinical trials…”
33:35: “So, we have an antibody, but what can we do with it? We know it can target blood vessels in tumors, so that may mean it could be a therapeutic. But, can it also help us to detect tumors? We’ve actually just been funded by the DOD Breast Cancer initiative to try and develop this as an imaging agent to detect tumors, to detect the expression of PS and to combine it with radio-immunotherapy.”
35:20 Slide: COVALENT COUPLING OF ARSENIC TO ANTIBODY
37:35: “The PET is overlayed over the MRI… So, potentially, we feel, this could be used to detect tumors, or to detect expression of the receptor, telling us that therapy based on the antibody could be useful. That could have 2 approaches. At low doses, we could have Arsenic77 attached to it, which causes irradiation of the tumor and damage. Or, at higher concentrations, as it turns out that the binding of the antibody to the receptor can attract macrophages and lead to thrombosis – when you block blood vessels, you cut off the blood supply, and kill the tumor. We’re very hopeful that we will be able to develop this. We’ve received funding, and it’s also starting to enter clinical trials.”
38:05 “The 3rd aspect we’re working on is Gene Expression…”

= = = = = = = =
DR. RALPH MASON’S BIO SKETCH:
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/findfac/research/0,2357,14638,00.html
CV: http://cip.swmed.edu/ICMIC/mason_cv.htm

4-25-06 3RD DOD GRANT: $460K, BAVI+RAD VS. BREAST CANCER
Dr. Ralph Mason, PI: "Since bavituximab's unique target is expressed on blood vessels in tumors but not in normal tissues, it may have both safety & efficacy advantages compared to other antibodies. We are eager to assess the utility of a bavituximab radioimmunoconjugate for the identification and treatment of metastatic breast disease.”
CEO S.King, "Data from this project could open the door for use of Bavituximab as an agent to identity, measure and ultimately destroy the metastases that kill most cancer patients."
http://tinyurl.com/v9hye

1-18-06 2ND DOD GRANT: $585K, BAVI+CHEMO VS. PROSTATE CANCER
Dr. Ralph Mason, PI: "This new prostate cancer grant, which brings together the expertise of several disciplines at UT-SW, will employ advanced techniques such as MRI tumor oximetry to measure dynamic changes in the tumors. We expect that the findings of these studies will be directly applicable to the design of Tarvacin clinical trials for prostate cancer."
http://tinyurl.com/y683vn

11-3-05 1ST DOD GRANT: $583K, BAVI+CHEMO VS. PROSTATE CANCER
http://tinyurl.com/wcwl7