Andy, I haven't been following XOMA that closely, but I thought that they were using fusion proteins. I'm not sure who controls what with SRGN. I think that LLY took some of their stock in exchange for cash and who knows what else. Robinson has talked about a specialty cancer acquisition, and my guess at this time is SRGN. Speaking of SRGN, this was in the news yesterday:
L O N D O N, Oct. 29 - Scientists are
close to testing a genetically
engineered "magic bullet" that could
treat half of the most common
cancers.
Early laboratory tests have shown that
the "bullets," which destroy the tumors by
injecting them with a deadly toxin, were
effective in treating adenocarcinomas which
are found in lung, ovary, prostate, colon and
breast cancers.
Clinical trials with colon cancer sufferers
could begin within the next 15 months.
A magic bullet is a treatment that targets
the cancerous cells without harming any of
the healthy cells around them-unlike
chemotherapy which can harm healthy cells
and result in serious side-effects.
"Medical Targeting Recognition (MTR)
Technologies, the Jerusalem-based company
that developed the bullets, say that they
might work better than other such treatments
because their toxins actually penetrate
cancer cells," New Scientist magazine said.
Earlier attempts at the approach failed
because although the antibodies on the
bullets found the cancerous cells they could
not penetrate and destroy them without
harming healthy cells as well.
MTR developed fusion proteins that
isolate the dangerous cells and inject them
with a bacterial toxin while leaving healthy
cells alone.
One half of the re-engineered protein
binds to the receptor on adenocarcinoma
cells and the second half fires a fatal dose of
the toxin that kills them by preventing them
from making proteins.
"The Israelis modified the natural toxin so
that immune cells previously exposed to the
bacteria would not recognize and attack it,"
the magazine explained.
Seragen, a Massachusetts-based
company, is using a similar approach against
a rare form of leukemia called cutaneous T
cell lymphoma.
Its protein binds to a site on the cancer
cells called interleukin-2 growth factor
receptor to fire the toxin. It is already close
to completing clinical trails and is applying to
the Food and Drug administration for
approval of the drug. |
