Sunshine Biopharma Inc. (OTCQB: SBFM), a pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of various forms of cancer, today announced that it has initiated the construction of mouse xenograft models for pancreatic cancer as part of the plans of positioning Adva-27a for clinical development for pancreatic cancer in parallel with multidrug resistant breast cancer. The work is being conducted in collaboration with Sunshine Biopharma’s parent company, Advanomics Corporation, the co-recipient of $1.45 million in research grants in Canada. As previously announced (see press release dated June 4, 2013), Adva-27a, a Topoisomerase II inhibitor, was found to be effective at destroying cells of the very aggressive pancreatic cancer cell line, Panc-1.
“Conducting tests in pancreatic cancer xenograft models is the next step in our preparations for doing parallel breast cancer and pancreatic cancer clinical trials of Adva-27a,” said Dr. Steve N. Slilaty, Chief Executive Officer of Sunshine Biopharma. “Pancreatic cancer is an extremely aggressive form of cancer with essentially no effective treatment options available today. We are heartened by the prospects that Adva-27a could become an effective therapy for patients suffering this deadly form of cancer.”
About Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer has an extremely poor prognosis. Most pancreatic cancer patients will die within one year of diagnosis. Cancer of the pancreas is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 45,220 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2013. Approximately 95% of pancreatic tumors are of the adenocarcinoma type, arising within the exocrine component of the pancreas where various digestive enzymes are produced. The remaining 5% arise from the islet cells and are classified as neuroendocrine tumors. The islet cells produce important hormones such as insulin, which regulates the sugar levels in the blood. Both types are very aggressive and respond poorly to standard chemotherapy drugs. In contrast to the downward trend in death rates for most major cancer types, death rates due to pancreatic cancer have been slowly increasing in the U.S. over the past decade. This, together with the lack effective therapy, underscores the need for major new drug development efforts to reverse these trends.
About Adva-27a
Adva-27a is Sunshine Biopharma’s lead anticancer compound, a small molecule that has recently been shown to be effective at killing multidrug resistant breast cancer cells, small-cell lung cancer cells, uterine sarcoma cells and pancreatic cancer cells (Published in ANTICANCER RESEARCH, Volume 32, Pages 4423-4432, October 2012). Adva-27a is currently in the IND-Enabling stage of development. The original U.S. patent covering Adva-27a was issued on August 7, 2012 under U.S. patent number 8,236,935.
About Sunshine Biopharma Inc.
Sunshine Biopharma is an early stage pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of various forms of cancer. Sunshine Biopharma recently announced that it has initiated IND-Enabling studies for its lead antitumor compound, Adva-27a, which is currently targeted for multidrug resistant cancer.
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