Mike - NuOncology Labs Presents Validation of Anti-Cancer Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor Compound at Annual Cancer Research Conference
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 1999--NuOncology Labs, Inc. (OTC BB: NLAB) announced today that it is presenting scientific data showing that the Company's lead cancer treatment drug, Arglabin, is a Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor (FTI).
The data will be presented at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today in Philadelphia. The abstract of the findings has been published in AACR's Annual Proceedings, Volume 40. The abstract can also be accessed through the Company's web site, nulab.net.
In December 1998, NuOncology Lab's scientists successfully completed their validation of scientific data on the mechanism of action of Arglabin, a plant-derived compound. Arglabin inhibits the enzyme Farnesyl Transferase (FTase), an enzyme critical to the function of the Ras oncogene.
The initial data on the anti-cancer properties of Arglabin was generated at the Institute of Phytochemistry and the Cancer Curing Hospital in Karaganda, Kazakstan. A team headed by Tattym Shaikenov, Ph.D., from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Almaty University, Kazakstan, conducted the research which confirmed FTase inhibition as the mechanism of action of the Arglabin molecule.
Dr. Shaikenov's original findings were replicated and validated in further work done at the Center for Biotechnology, Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and at NuOncology Labs' research facilities in Houston, Texas.
The scientific studies show that Arglabin inhibits the enzyme Farnesyl Transferase (FTase), an enzyme critical to the function of the Ras oncogene in cancer cell reproduction and tumor growth. FTase attaches a 15-carbon farnesyl molecule to a Ras protein. When this attachment is prevented (inhibited) by an FTI, cancers that depend on the Ras oncogene cannot grow and eventually die.
At least one quarter of all human cancers depend on malfunctions in the Ras biochemical pathway that result in the uncontrolled growth of cancer. These cancers include over 80 percent of pancreatic cancers and a substantial portion of most other difficult-to-treat human cancers, including colon, lung, ovarian, and breast cancers.
Over the past 12 months, human clinical trials were conducted at the Institute of Phytochemistry and the Cancer Curing Hospital in Karaganda, Kazakstan. NuOncology plans to announce the results of these trials in May. Arglabin is already approved for cancer treatment in special clinics in Kazakstan and other republics of the former Soviet Union.
Over 300 patients with a variety of cancers have been treated with Arglabin with very promising results and few side effects. Published data show that Arglabin inhibits or stops the growth of several types of tumors, both alone and in combination with other compounds ("Arglabin. Its Structure, Properties, and Usage," Institute of Phytochemistry, Republic of Kazakstan, 1997).
Nine U.S. patents have been filed for Arglabin, related compounds and the mechanism of action of the compounds. The first group of patents filed has recently been allowed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
NuOncology Labs, Inc. participates in the multi-billion dollar cancer treatment research and clinical laboratories industries. NuOncology Labs engages in research, development, testing and licensing of promising cancer treatments. In its clinical laboratory business, the company conducts predictive drug response tests for the optimization of contemporary cancer treatment.
Note: Statements in this document that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties.
Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, including risks relating to the early state of products under development; uncertainties relating to clinical trials; dependence on third parties; future capital needs; and risks relating to the commercialization, if any, of the Company's proposed products (such as marketing, safety, regulatory, patent, product liability, supply, competition and other risks).
NuOncology Labs, Inc. trades on the OTC Electronic Bulletin Board under the symbol "NLAB" and an OTC symbol of " NLA" on the Berlin Stock Exchange.
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Investor Communications Co.
Barry Labell, 800/511-4214
Tom Bostic, 800/511-4218
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