AND IT'S ONLY 30c CDN...LOR TRADES ON THE MSE AND TSE..
Lorus Therapeutics Inc -
Lorus files FDA application for anticancer drug
Lorus Therapeutics Inc LOR
Shares issued 43,280,001 1999-11-15 close $0.31
Tuesday Nov 16 1999
Mr. Philippe Lacaille reports
Lorus Therapeutics has filed an investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the company's lead antisense drug, GTI 2040. The company reported that GTI 2040 demonstrated exceptionally strong antitumour properties when tested with a wide range of human tumours in animal models, including tumours derived from colon, liver, lung, breast, kidney and ovary. GTI 2040 is one of several anticancer products acquired by Lorus in its recent acquisition of GeneSense Technologies Inc.
"Through our recent acquisition of GeneSense, we added a very strong portfolio of anticancer drug candidates," said Philippe G. Lacaille, chief executive officer at Lorus. "GTI 2040 is the lead antisense product that was selected from over 100 different compounds. It was chosen because of its target specificity, outstanding antitumour properties and its excellent safety profile in animals."
The company reported that when tested against a broad range of human tumour models, GTI 2040 demonstrated excellent activity in all cases. "GTI 2040 was tested in nine different tumour models and in each case, we saw very good activity. Depending on the tumour model, we saw significant inhibition of tumour growth, disease stabilization and in some cases, dramatic tumour regression," said Dr. Jim Wright, president and chief scientific officer at Lorus. "Independent toxicology, or safety studies carried out in rodents and monkeys predict that this compound is likely to be safe in humans at concentrations that exceed the expected therapeutic doses. A preIND meeting was held with the U.S. FDA last month and the outcome was very positive. We have taken into account their comments and on Nov. 5, we filed an IND application to begin phase I/II clinical trials shortly. We are very excited about the prospects for this product."
Antisense technology is an innovative drug discovery method that works at the genetic level to interrupt the process by which disease-causing proteins are produced. Unlike traditional drugs that are designed to interact with protein molecules that support or cause diseases, antisense drugs are designed to inhibit the production of disease-causing proteins. Antisense drugs are designed to treat a wide range of diseases including cancer. They have the potential to be more selective and, as a result, more effective and less toxic than traditional drugs, such as most chemotherapeutic agents.
WARNING: The company relies upon litigation protection for "forward-looking" statements.
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