ALTACHEM PHARMA ENTERS INTO STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
August 01 2001
Edmonton, Alberta – Warren Jackson, President and CEO of Altachem Pharma Ltd. (‘Altachem’) is pleased to announce the establishment of a Research Services Agreement with the University of Alberta. Under the terms of the agreement, the University of Alberta will receive $186,000 in return for providing research services to Altachem, and its wholly owned subsidiary, SonoLight Pharmaceutical Corp., for one year. The agreement will support technological development of SonoLight's core technologies of photodynamic (PDT) and sonodynamic therapies (SDT), used to treat a wide variety of cancers and non-malignant diseases.
Development of the core technologies is now underway in the laboratories of Drs. J.W. Lown, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science; and G. Miller, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Lown is Professor of Chemistry, while Dr. Miller is Director of the Noujaim Institute for Pharmaceutical Oncology Research and Research Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
"In the short term, this Research Services Agreement with the University of Alberta will be instrumental in helping Altachem meet its targets and advance potential products to clinical testing in a timely manner. In the longer term, Altachem is working towards the establishment of its own research facility, which would represent the quickest, most cost-effective method of bringing pharmaceutical products to market," said Dr. Madi Madiyalakan, Altachem’s Executive Vice President of Research and Development.
The Research Services Contract represents the culmination of 10 years' research and development of the core technologies at the University of Alberta by Drs. Lown and Miller. SonoLight has exclusively licensed the technology for sonodynamic therapy from the University of Alberta.
The current SDT and PDT technologies have been enhanced by additional tissue-targeting technology, rendering the technologies more user-friendly by increasing treatment accuracy and success rates, and decreasing side effects. Dr. Beatrice Leveugle, who brings the targeting technologies expertise, is Director of Research at SonoLight. Dr. Lown is Vice President of Product Development, and Dr. Miller is Vice President of Research and Development.
Altachem Pharma Ltd. is a publicly traded (CDNX:AAF) Alberta-based pharmaceutical company that is committed to developing new and improved pharmaceutical products to globally enhance the quality of life. Altachem invests in, develops, manufactures and distributes pharmaceutical products in Canada and internationally. The Company is certified compliant with internationally recognized quality system standards, ISO 9002:1994, ISO 13488 and EN 46002.
For additional information, contact:
Roger Andrews, Investor Relations
Altachem Pharma Ltd.
Tel. (780) 486-8331 ext. 331
Fax: (780) 448-1436
Toll-free Tel. (877) 502-5939
Email: roger@altachempharma.com
Web: www.altachempharma.com
Dr. Madi R. Madiyalakan, Executive Vice President of Research and Development
Altachem Pharma Ltd.
Tel. (780) 486-8331 ext. 328
Fax: (780) 448-1436
Email: madi@altachempharma.com
Don Bain, Vice President
McManus Elliott Communications Inc.
Tel. (416) 979-8300
Fax: (416) 979-8638
Email: don@mcmanuselliott.com |
