Cancer

Dharmacon Inc., a supplier of RNA and RNA interference (RNAi) research products, last month announced the formation of the Genome-Wide RNAi Global Initiative, an alliance of leading international biomedical research centers. The initial goal of the initiative is to accelerate the scientific and medical discoveries made possible by the recent availability of the first complete siRNA library to target genes across the entire human genome.

Cytomyx Holdings Plc announced last month that its U.S. subsidiary entered into an agreement with OriGene Technologies Inc., whereby Cytomyx will provide hundreds of highly characterized RNA tissue samples representing a wide range of cancers to OriGene, which will use the samples to develop new generations of its Rapid-Scan gene expression panel product line.

For some reason, every month, I can’t help but feel we are only scratching the surface of what is happening in the business of drug discovery. Of course, we have a different set of problems from other publications covering this industry. For them, a research breakthrough is a research breakthrough and if it hits any of the major diseases like cancer or CNS disorders, or is from an emerging field of discovery such as nanotechnology or microRNA,

Illumina announced recently that it has partnered with UK-based Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI) and Wellcome Trust Case-Control Consortium on an ambitious genomics and proteomics project. The goal: to enable Wellcome to better correlate genetic variation and gene function with particular disease states, thus enhancing drug discovery, allowing diseases to be detected earlier and permitting better choices of drugs for individual patients.

Imaging specialist Gamma Medica-Ideas (GM-I) recently announced the installation of a FLEX preclinical SPECT/CT system at the Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center. The new system will allow Dr. Juri Gelovani, chairman of experimental diagnostic imaging, and his colleagues to develop new methods for imaging tumors for cancer diagnosis and monitoring the targeting and efficacy of tumor-specific drugs.

MultiCell Technologies Inc., will leverage its human hepatocyte line and associated products by developing therapeutics on its own through a new majority-owned subsidiary, Monticello Immunotherapeutics Inc. In conjunction with the formation of Monticello, MultiCell recently acquired the intellectual property and equipment of Astral Inc., a San Diego-based biotechnology company that focuses on the development of novel therapies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer and infectious disease.

A recent study by the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) showed a correlation between levels of certain proteins in human tumor cells and the effectiveness of two of the most common chemotherapy drugs for lung, prostate and breast cancer. The findings, published in the July-August issue of Cancer Genomics & Proteomics could suggest future methods for both determining an individual patient’s susceptibility to cancer and to help design the most effective treatment regimen for individual patients.

ProlX Pharmaceuticals recently announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded the company four SBIR grants totaling more than $1.2 million and covering preclinical work on four promising drug candidates.

In producing Drug Discovery News and DDN Online (our e-mail-based newsletter), our editors and writers wade through hundreds of pages of announcements, research papers, Web sites, and other forms of communication, looking for the most important and most interesting stories to present.

The commercial microarray industry is a little over a decade old. While gene expression studies are still a mainstay in the search for blockbuster drugs and novel biomarkers, this is a good time to look at some of the emerging trends that are changing the face of microarray research. When combined with gene expression analysis, these new applications can play a crucial role in unraveling complex molecular pathways.

The heart drug digitalis, derived from foxgloves, may someday soon add cancer treatment to its pharmaceutical repertoire. A technique used by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) to alter digitoxin, a component of digitalis, created new compounds that showed efficacy against cancer cells during in vitro studies. Mouse studies are underway.