Here's part of a press release from the company's homepage.
Certainly looks encouraging for future developments and growth.
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Research study demonstrates effectiveness of StressGen's gene
therapy in tumour regression
Findings published in British research journal, Gene Therapy
Victoria, British Columbia - StressGen Biotechnologies Corp.
announced today that tests in animal models demonstrate that the
Company's proprietary gene therapy technology can significantly regress tumours. The study was conducted at the National Institute for Medical Research in the United Kingdom.
The results of this research appeared in the April issue of Gene Therapy, an internationally-recognized scientific journal which publishes original articles on gene therapy and its application to human disease.
The principal author of the article, Dr. Katalin Lukacs of the National Heart and Lung Institute in the UK, is one of the originators of the stress gene therapy technology. Her study found significant tumour regression in mice treated with stress protein (hsp) gene 65 compared with untreated controls. "Rapid regression of advanced tumours suggests that hsp 65 can be an effective treatment in late [stage] cancer," Lukacs wrote.
In Dr. Lukacs' study, stress protein genes were delivered to tumour sites within mice. The cancer cells at those sites took up the stress protein DNA and began producing stress proteins. The expression of stress proteins stimulated the animal's immune system to destroy the cancer cells - leading to the regression of the tumour.
Richard M. Glickman, StressGen's president and chief executive officer, said Dr. Lukacs, working with Dr. Jo Colston at the Medical Research Council in England, has previously shown that this technology can inhibit tumour growth and that these new research results could have a significant impact on cancer therapy. "We are very encouraged by these results because we are seeing actual tumour regression." The research findings he added, will also impact the Company's recent partnership with Genzyme General. "These results confirm the clinical potential of stress gene therapy and will have a positive impact on our joint venture with Genzyme."
Glickman said the joint venture combines StressGen's stress gene therapy technology with Genzyme's vector delivery systems. "The combination of these technologies forms the basis of a powerful alliance which will allow the joint venture to fully exploit the clinical potential of stress gene therapy."
StressGen acquired the world-wide exclusive rights to this gene therapy technology in the summer of 1996 from the Medical Research Council in London. This technology capitalizes on the ability of stress protein genes to stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight disease. A stress gene is the DNA a cell uses to produce stress proteins.
StressGen's research has demonstrated that stress proteins are produced by foreign microbes such as bacteria and parasites when they infect the body. The presence of stress proteins, trigger the body's immune system to destroy these foreign invaders. Although cancer cells are distinct from normal cells, the body's immune defenses often fail to attack them as foreign invaders. By introducing stress proteins directly into cancer cells - essentially marking them as foreign - the body is able to recognize the cancer cells and destroy them. |
