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Replies to post #10466 on Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc (IPIX)
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Dr. Menon also runs KARD Scientific, a contract research organization (CRO). KARD Scientific has been instrumental in testing and developing NanoViricides’ breakthrough antiviral nanovesicle technology.
Pharmas have increasingly turned to CROs as a way to cut costs and manage the complexity of bringing new products to market. Since 2002, KARD Scientific has successfully helped its clients file eight investigative new drug applications with the FDA, thus launching them into human clinical trials.
Researchers at CRO facilities, therefore, see a wide range of platform technologies and candidate compounds from all over the industry. For CRO researchers, exposure to a large variety of different drug candidates can lead to a uniquely broad biotech perspective and expertise. As the head of his own CRO, Dr. Menon has been in the position to develop a very good sense of what will eventually make it to market and what won’t.
Dr. Menon, who has been described as a “lab workaholic,” also has decades of his own experience developing important anti-cancer compounds. His Ph.D. work, for example, laid the foundation for Eli Lilly’s blockbuster cancer drug Alimta. He was also a key developer for Gemzar, another billion-dollar cancer drug. For this and other contributions, he was honored with Eli Lilly’s President’s Award in 1999.
Therefore, his confidence in Cellceutix’s leading candidate, a first-in-class p53-activating cancer compound, has considerable significance. The genesis of the compound, in fact, has roots reaching back many years in Dr. Menon’s long professional career.
As a young man, before earning graduate degrees in medicine and pharmacology, Dr. Menon was the chief veterinarian for a Jamaican parish, which is comparable to an American state. On one occasion, he was called to do a postmortem analysis following the mysterious death of an expensive prize bull. The investigation revealed that the animal had been treated with an agent designed to kill external parasites, a common problem in tropical countries.
During the postmortem analysis, Dr. Menon discovered that the tick-and-mite-killing product acted as a cytotoxic agent, causing organ failure. More importantly, however, he also observed that the bull had suffered from subcutaneous tumors, but many had been eliminated by the product.
The event marked the beginning of his quest to develop anti-cancer compounds that combine low toxicity with high efficacy. This theme has marked much of his career, and has already led to the creation of breakthrough cancer drugs. It is now reaching its culmination in Cellceutix’s leading compound, called Kevetrin.
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Kevetrin also has a strong intellectual property position. In the biotechnology business, strong patent protections are often the difference between success and failure. The patent for Kevetrin was published last year, and was written by Dr. Paul Ginsburg. Dr. Ginsburg, a patent attorney, has worked in senior positions at Pfizer and Schering.
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