News

Invite to our FREE PharmaKeN industry event at Strathclyde on the afternoon of the 7th of September

26/07/2010

7th September 2010
Court Senate Suite
Collins Building
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow

Interested in boosting your R&D activities? You are invited to come to Strathclyde on the afternoon of Tuesday 7th September to learn of our development to open up our research and expertise to companies like yours.

The aim of the Pharmaceutical Knowledge Exchange Network (PharmaKeN) is to develop a regular forum to improve links between industry and academia.

The PharmaKeN event will give you the opportunity to:
• Find out how you can find novel and better ways of controlling your drug target with our proprietary SID service
• Find out more about two of our anti-cancer opportunities
• Find out more about the Orphan Fund Project which provides grants of up to £15,000 to work with Moredun, the Institute for Animal Health and the Roslin Foundation
• Learn more about KTPs and other funding mechanisms that will allow you to interact with the university
• Meet with other local companies
• Establish an effective and rapid way of interacting with academia
• Discuss ideas for collaboration
• Find out how our researchers can play a part in your R&D strategy
• Learn about our resources and research expertise relevant to the pharma industry

To sign up for this FREE event please visit http://www.sidr.org/pharmaken/

http://www.sidr.org/pharmaken/

Cancer breakthrough for Glasgow scientists

30/04/2010

Scottish scientists have made cancer tumours vanish within 10 days by sending DNA to seek and destroy the cells.

The system, developed at Strathclyde and Glasgow universities, is being hailed as a breakthrough because it appears to eradicate tumours without causing harmful side-effects. A leading medical journal has described the results so far as remarkable, while Cancer Research UK said they were encouraging.

Dr Christine Dufes, a lecturer at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and leader of the research, said: “The tumours were completely gone within 10 days. It is fantastic. When you talk about 10 days that is the time frame for curing a cold. Imagine if within 10 days you could completely make a tumour disappear.”

Researchers around the world are trying to find ways to use genes as a cancer treatment, but one problem is ensuring they attack the tumour without destroying healthy tissue.

In laboratory experiments the Strathclyde research team used a plasma protein called transferrin, which carries iron through the blood, to deliver the therapeutic DNA to the right spot. Once in situ the DNA produced a protein that attacked the tumour cells.

The findings have been published in the Journal of Controlled Release, with an accompanying comment from editor Professor Kinam Park, of Purdue University, Indiana, saying other attempts to target genes at cancer cells have “seldom shown complete disappearance of tumours”.

The research was initially supported with a grant from charity Tenovus Scotland, which supports the work of young scientists to help their ideas get off the ground.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/scientists-make-cancer-cells-vanish-1.1022114

New "Penicillin" for the 21st century

06/04/2010

Today MGB Biopharma Limited, a late preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company, has commenced operations in Glasgow, UK to develop and commercialise a new class of antibacterial product: DNA Minor Groove Binders.

The senior executives are highly experienced pharmaceutical and biotech experts with a well-proven track record and the company has received start up funding from a syndicate of business angel groups led by Archangel Informal Investments Ltd alongside Tri Capital Ltd, Barwell plc and the Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Co-Investment Fund.

The technology has been licenced from the University of Strathclyde an has so far demonstrated very significant activity against Gram positive bacteria, including MRSA and also against some Gram negative bacteria.

The technology involves a new class of DNA minor groove binders (MGB's), to be used as anti-bacterial drugs. These compounds have arisen from the work of a multidisciplinary team comprising medicinal chemists, molecular modellers and microbiologists.

The initial development of the technology was created entirely through Scottish-based funding, intially through the former Synergy Fund, owned by University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow, then through Scottish Enterprise's Proof of Concept Programme and from royalties from Leucovorin©, the cancer treatment produced from research at Strathclyde University in the 1980's. The funding for further development and commercialisation is being led by Scotland's largest angel group, Archangels.

Dr Miroslav Ravic, Chief Executive Officer of MGB Biopharma said, "the introduction of a new class of antibacterial is an all too rare event in medical science. We are particularly proud to be working with the DNA Minor Groove Binder Technology from the University of Strathclyde - I believe the last Scottish association with the discovery of a new antibacterial class was none other than that of Sir Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin 82 years ago. We are excited by the fact that MGB Biopharma has the potential to bring a new mechanism of action into the treatment of serious hospital and community acquired infections. This is a new area of high unmet need as a result of the rise of resistant bacteria which are not susceptable to many currently available antibacterial products".

Professor Colin Suckling, of Strathclyde's Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, has been Principal Investigator in the DNA minor groove binder technology. He said, "This is technology which was initiated and developed in Scotland and which is now being funded to grow in Scotland - for worldwide benefit.

"Minor Groove Binders, which are found in DNA structures, have great potential to act as anti-infective agents to deal with infections which can have a serious, and even fatal, impact. We look forward to the new company taking the technology further so that improved and safer treatments can be delivered to patients."

About the Technology

DNA is the fundamental building block for an individual's entire genetic map. It is presented in the form of a double helix formed by base pairs attached to sugar-phosphate backbones which spiral around the outer surface of DNA

Between these backbones are two different sized grooves, designated the major and minor grooves. These grooves are the site where regulatory proteins interact with DNA. They recognize specific regions of DNA with a high selectivity and produce their activity by modulation of biochemistry of cells at the fundamental levels of DNA replication or the transcription of key genes

DNA minor groove binders (MGBs) are a class of compounds that specifically bind to DNA Minor Grooves, demonstrating potential anti-bacterial/antifungal/antiviral and anticancer activity.

The activities of MGBs are determined by their ability to bind to specific sequences of DNA base pairs.

A New Class

MGB BioPharma's technology represents a new series of compounds that have markedly different profiles from the only significant pharmaceutical product belonging to the class of DNA Minor Groove Binder. The latter product is used in cancer where an effect is essential for efficacy in that indication. The distinctive chemistry of our compounds carried out by original research by the University of Strathclyde results in selectivity such that bacteria, rather than mammalian cells are targeted.

http://www.archangelsonline.com/article.asp?aid=879

PharmaLinks participation at upcoming events

24/02/2010

PharmaLinks representatives will be available to speak to you to discuss how we could work together at the following 2010 events.

- BioEurope Spring in Barcelona 8th-10th of March

If you wish to meet with PharmaLinks at any of these events then please request a meeting in the usual way or e-mail Debbie Stack at debbie.stack@strath.ac.uk
http://www.ebdgroup.com/bes/

Strathclyde in the news - Scots pioneer breast cancer test that could boost survival rates

06/01/2010

SCOTTISH scientists are developing a test for breast cancer that could dramatically improve survival rates.

Researchers from Strathclyde and Edinburgh Napier universities have identified a "biomarker" in the blood that could be used to screen people at risk from the disease.

They said the breakthrough potentially could lead to far earlier diagnosis and ADVERTISEMENTremove the need for more invasive tests.

Survival rates from breast cancer are improving across the UK, thanks to new treatments.

But, despite this, the disease still causes more than 1,000 deaths in Scotland each year – and about 4,000 Scots are diagnosed with the disease annually.

Gemma Gallacher, a student at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, who led the initial stages of the research, said: "Breast cancer has a devastating impact on the people who suffer from it and their families. The diagnosis is still reliant on invasive techniques, such as mammography and biopsy, which can themselves cause a great deal of discomfort and distress to patients."

Ms Gallacher said, while death rates were dropping, researchers had been lacking a marker to help them detect the disease – something that could be tested for in the blood to indicate the presence of cancer.

The Strathclyde-led research was carried out in collaboration with Dr Kevin Smith, of Edinburgh Napier's School of Life Sciences, and Professor David George, of Glasgow University.

They have been awarded a grant of about £25,000 by the charity Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test to build on the findings.

Dr Smith, who will lead the next stage of the research, said the grant would help bring them closer to the "holy grail" of breast cancer research – identifying a molecule that not only appears to be diagnostic for an earlier detection of the cancer but which can also be detected by a simple testing of a blood sample rather than an invasive tissue biopsy.

The researchers explored the possibility that a protein called Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), which is present in blood, could form the basis of a diagnostic marker for early breast cancer.

They obtained samples from people with and without breast cancer. The AGP in the samples was isolated and blood sugar levels were compared. The levels varied between different groups, and samples from people with benign and invasive cancer were found to contain N-acetylgalactosamine – a type of sugar not normally found in AGP.

Ms Gallacher said: "It's not yet clear where this sugar came from, but we would hope it could lead to earlier detection of breast cancer.

"A tumour can be growing for up to eight years before there is a physical manifestation of it, so anything which can speed up the diagnosis would be of huge benefit to patients."

Dr Laura Bell, Cancer Research UK's science information officer, said: "Detecting cancer earlier saves lives, and biomarkers that can flag the early stages of certain cancers are an exciting area of research which could make diagnosis much quicker and easier in future."
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/health/Scots-pioneer-breast-cancer-test.5947865.jp

Strathclyde in the news - Scots team harnesses vitamin E to battle cancer

06/01/2010

A TEAM of Scottish scientists has discovered a way of using the power of a natural vitamin extract to make tumours almost disappear in ten days.

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde mobilised an extract from Vitamin E – which has known anti-cancer properties – to attack cancerous cells, using a new delivery system.

In tests on skin cancer, they found that tumours started to shrink ADVERTISEMENTwithin 24 hours and almost vanished in ten days. They believe the tumours might have been completely destroyed if the tests had continued for longer.

When the tumours regrew, they did so at a far slower rate than previously. The researchers will now go on to test the extract on other types of cancer before beginning human trials.

Previous studies have found that the extract – tocotrienol, from palm oil, one of the developing world's most widely-grown products – has tumour-fighting properties.

The problem was gettingthe extract, which is injected, to tumours without damaging healthy tissue.

For the latest study, the Strathclyde team developed a formulation of tocotrienol that could be specifically delivered to tumours intravenously.

They did this by encapsulating it in a compound called transferrin, a protein which transports iron through the blood. The treatment was then tested on mice.

The formulation led to tumours starting to shrink within one day of treatment. The cancers had nearly disappeared within ten days – the length of time the researchers were allowed to carry out their experiments under strict trial rules.

Dr Christine Dufès, a lecturer at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, said: "

We could see that it was very promising. Of course, this is just the first experiment done but it is very exciting."

The team, from Strathclyde, with the help of University of Glasgow scientists, hope there may be scope to improve the treatment further by using higher doses and extending the length of the treatment.

So far, no side effects had been reported. Dufès said:

"We demonstrated that the intravenous administration of tocotrienol, entrapped in a tumour-targeted delivery system, leads to a fast tumour regression without visible secondary effects on healthy tissues."

The research has been published in the Journal of Controlled Release. Other cancers now being targeted include ovarian and prostate, major killers of women and men respectively.

Cancer research charities gave the research a cautious welcome. Dr Jodie Moffat, Cancer Research UK's health information officer, said:

"It's important that, as well as being studied in the lab, new ways of preventing or treating cancer are tested in clinical trials, to make sure there aren't any unexpected or harmful effects. Previous studies have found that high doses of vitamin supplements can actually increase the risk of certain types of cancer, which highlights just how important testing with real people is."

Vitamin E performs several important roles in the human body. It retards cellular ageingand strengthens blood capillary walls.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/health/Scots-team-harnesses-vitamin-E.5907426.jp

University of Strathclyde and Pharma Integra announce a licence agreement and collaboration on development of novel anti-infective treatment

06/11/2008

PharmaLinks, and drug development firm Pharma Integra Limited, have recently signed a licence agreement under which Pharma Integra has acquired exclusive rights to develop and commercialise a new class of DNA minor groove binders (MGBs) for the treatment of infective diseases.

The compounds have arisen from the work of a multidisciplinary team comprising medicinal chemists, molecular modellers and microbiologists. Now that the compounds have been identified, validated and optimised, their synthesis will be scaled-up for toxicology and clinical studies. Initially, all efforts will be directed towards development of new anti-bacterial lead compounds for the treatment of hospital-acquired infections, including that caused by MRSA, and other bacterial infections, such as those caused by endocarditis and meningitis. This work will be conducted through collaboration and joint development between the University of Strathclyde and Pharma Integra.
Prof Colin Suckling, Principal Investigator, said: "The licence agreement is a pleasing outcome to six years’ work synthesising and testing these MGBs, but also marks the beginning of an exciting stage in the drug discovery process as the compounds progress towards their first human clinical trials.
Mrs Louise McKean, Contracts Manager in Research & Innovation at the University, added: "The success of this project owes much to the University’s investment in drug discovery. While the work was supported initially by the Synergy Fund, owned by the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow and proof of concept studies were supported by Scottish Enterprise, Strathclyde invested significant sums throughout the duration of the project, including those it had received as royalties from work on the cancer drug Leucovorin, also pioneered by Professor Suckling.

"The need for new anti-bacterial compounds is growing, due to the fact that the effectiveness of many antibiotics is waning, as more and more types of bacteria become resistant to traditional agents. Pharma Integra is well-placed to continue the development of the University’s compounds, having a strong and experienced management team."

Dr Miroslav Ravic, Managing Director of Pharma Integra, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with one of the finest research institutions. Pharma Integra recognises the University of Strathclyde’s expertise in taking this class of compound into a hitherto inaccessible area. The medicinal chemistry programme has yielded compounds which act selectively on bacteria and thus we are looking at a new class of drug to be introduced into the battle against drug-resistant infections. This is a key success factor and we are very pleased to enter into this collaboration to develop novel anti-infective drugs for what is a very significant unmet medical need’

A Strathclyde discovery is approved in the US

16/10/2008

Cancer patients in America are set to benefit from a drug pioneered at the University of Strathclyde following FDA approval.

Drug 6S-Leucovorin, used in the treatment of colo-rectal cancers was licensed to Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in 2006. Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced yesterday that it has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Levoleucovorin for Injection. It is indicated after high-dose methotrexate therapy in patients with osteosarcoma, and to diminish the toxicity and counteract the effects of impaired methotrexate elimination or inadvertent overdose of folic acid antagonists. LEVOleucovorin is the only commercially available formulation comprised only of the pharmacologically active enantiomer of leucovorin (Levoleucovorin or (6S)-leucovorin). The Company currently expects its commercial launch by June 2008.

6S-Leucovorin is already available in Europe and is used in conjunction with other drugs to treat colo-rectal cancer. It is also given to patients following chemotherapy to help protect their healthy cells from side effects.

Strathclyde Professors Hamish Wood CBE and Colin Suckling OBE pioneered 6S-Leucovorin in the early 1980s. Leucovorin was an established drug made from folic acid, but it contained 'molecular baggage' molecules which were not biologically active and could even be harmful.

Concern about drugs in general containing inactive molecules peaked when it emerged that molecular baggage had led to the Thalidomide tragedy. As regulators called for purer drugs, the Professors recognised the scientific challenge and began to develop a pure form of Leucovorin.

A patent for the drug - and the process used to make it - was filed in 1986. To date, the technology has made the University around £6 million in royalties from existing licensee Wyeth.

http://http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=83249&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1116608&highlight=

£2.5 million Cancer Research grant for drug discovery

04/02/2008

Cancer Research UK has awarded £2.5 million to scientists at Strathclyde's new Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences for research into new drugs for prostate cancer.

The grant is part of a £10 million investment in drug discovery projects at four universities across the UK.

Professor Simon Mackay of the Strathclyde Institute will investigate ways to overcome the major challenge of drug resistance in the treatment of prostate cancer. The project is a collaborative venture between the Institute and the Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry.

He said: "Targeting specific proteins to treat prostate cancer is currently a very exciting area of research. We're delighted to receive this Cancer Research UK grant, and hope it will help us discover drugs that target key signalling proteins and provide more effective treatments for the disease.

"A key feature of our programme is the multi-disciplinary approach we embody at Strathclyde through collaboration between molecular biologists, pharmacologists, medicinal chemists and pharmacists. Representatives of all these disciplines will be working on the programme."

Nearly 35,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, with 2,500 cases in Scotland in 2004. It is the most common cancer in men in the UK and accounts for nearly a quarter of all new cases of male cancer.

Project leaders at the University of Strathclyde, Imperial College London, University of Oxford and The School of Pharmacy in London will each receive £500k per year for five years to develop anti-cancer drugs.

The Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences is a pioneering, world-class centre for teaching and research, with a particular focus on drug discovery and development.

Plans for a £35 million, state-of-the-art building for the Institute are underway to allow further collaborations and advanced research into the diseases of the 21st Century.

The University has injected £27 million into the £35 million capital build - its largest investment in a single project to date - and has successfully secured lead gifts equating to £2.75 million from charitable trusts such as the Wolfson Foundation, Robertson Trust and Garfield Weston Foundation. The balance will be raised through a fundraising campaign.

http://www.strath.ac.uk/features/drugdiscovery

Treating your greens to grow up big and strong

04/01/2008

An Edinburgh-based company has received funding to research how the University of Strathclyde’s bacteriophage immobilisation technology can be used to prevent infection in broccoli.

Advanced Pest Solutions (APS) has received Scottish Government SCORE funding, which provides financial assistance for projects jointly undertaken between universities and small-to-medium enterprises.

APS are working with Dr Mike Mattey of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS) to research bacteriophage and their uses for industry.

Specifically, the University and APS are working to develop the benefits bacteriophage has for broccoli.

Bacteriophage are pathogens that kill bacteria and can be used to treat plant, animal and human bacterial infection as an alternative to chemical intervention such as pesticides and drugs.

Bacterial infection accounts for a significant loss of global broccoli production and the University’s technology allows bacteriophage to be effectively delivered to sites of infection on the affected vegetable or into the surrounding soil.

Once the product has obtained the necessary approval it will be available to end-users in the crop protection industry.

http://www.advancedpestsolutions.co.uk

Healthy interest in bug-beating research

25/07/2007

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have signed an exclusive option agreement with life sciences company GangaGen to licence the clinical application of a pioneering bacteriophage technology.

Phages are highly efficient at destroying specific bacterial cells and researchers at Strathclyde have developed a technique which will see bacteriophage used as a treatment for bacterial infection, including MRSA.

The method allows the bacteriophage to be embedded within physical materials such as sutures, exploiting the power of the bacteriophage to prevent infection.

The technology has been snapped up by GangaGen Inc, founded in Delaware, USA in 2000. The company is a world leader in bacteriophage technology and its use in the control and treatment of infectious bacterial disease.

The option agreement is the result of contact made with GangaGen through PharmaLinks, which brings together the scientific and clinical expertise of the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, and which provides industry with a wealth of new ideas for therapeutic targets, drug candidates and drug delivery.

Dr Catherine Breslin, Business Development Manager at the University of Strathclyde and PharmaLinks, said "Throughout the course of this project, the team has remained focused on the application of their research to a significant health problem and so it's particularly rewarding for the technology to be given an opportunity to progress beyond the academic research lab.

"We hope that the team's relationship with GangaGen continues to flourish and we will be pleased to provide advice and support for this and future opportunities".

PharmaLinks enters into a collaborative research agreement with Variation Biotechnologies

25/07/2007

PharmaLinks, the joint initiative of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, has concluded a collaborative research deal with Canada-based emerging vaccine company Variation Biotechnologies Inc to test Strathclyde’s groundbreaking technology for administering vaccines orally – “Bilosomes”.

Bilosomes are specialised delivery vesicles that protect vaccines from being broken down in the stomach and enhance their effect upon the immune system. A wide variety of vaccine components can be used with them and they do not require the use of live pathogens, making them a safe and effective alternative to traditional vaccines. Bilosomes enable the oral delivery of vaccines as an alternative to administering treatment by injection. Compared to oral delivery, injections are relatively high cost, are less efficient, and require trained personnel to administer them. The Bilosomes project potentially represents a major step forward in vaccine technology by avoiding the problems associated with injections and increasing the efficacy of vaccines.

Variation Biotechnologies Inc is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of vaccines for infectious diseases. They will be working in partnership with the University to test the Bilosome system as a way of providing a new oral flu vaccine with their proprietary technology. Adam Buckley, Director of Corporate Development for Variation said “We are very excited to be working with the Strathclyde team on this project – the influenza market alone provides a significant opportunity that could be capitalised on by the complementary expertise of our teams”.

PharmaLinks, the university’s organisation which provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with access to top level research expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, introduced the Bilosome researchers to Variation Biotechnologies Inc and managed the process leading to the agreement of an initial collaborative research deal.

Anne Muir, Business Development Manager at PharmaLinks, said, “We are delighted that a key piece of our technology is moving forward.

“The team, involving Drs Val Ferro, Chris Carter and Alex Mullen of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, has been developing this technology for a number of years and the collaboration deal reflects the enthusiasm and effort that they have all put into making it a success.

“We will continue to provide support to the research team through project management of the collaboration and any follow-up that may be required.”

For further information please contact: Anne Muir on 0141 548 5822.

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