Anadis' Cancer Related Mucositis Project Awarded with VISTECH Grant
MELBOURNE, Australia (Business Wire EON) July 2, 2008 --
Anadis Ltd. (ASX:ANX; OTC:ANDIY) an Australian biopharmaceutical company
has been awarded a product development grant for its Cancer-related
Alimentary Mucositis project. The award was one of only three made by
the VISTECH bi-national fund, following a competitive process, which
included a thorough scientific assessment. The fund was established by
the Government of Victoria (Australia) and the Government of Israel
through the Office of the Chief Scientist in its Ministry of Industry
Trade and Labor. The intended product for the oncology market will
leverage a special formulation of Anadis' immune milk-derived anti LPS
antibodies, growth factors and other bioactives delivered using Anadis’
oral delivery technology.
Mr. Gavin Jennings, Victorian Minister for Innovation stated: “(The)
projects will lead to new health and sustainability-related products
that will improve Victoria’s quality of life
and create more skilled jobs. VISTECH demonstrates the value of
international partnerships in commercialising our research and
highlights what Victoria can offer such partnerships on the world stage.”
The first installment of the grant (overall grant is $500,000 over 18
months), was awarded to Anadis and its Israeli collaborator, Maya
BioTech, with whom Anadis will explore an innovative delivery device.
Anadis anticipates that a commercial product to broadly address
Alimentary (GI and Oral) Mucositis using its milk derived antibodies and
other proteins would reach the market in 2-3 years given the product’s
excellent safety profile.
Mucositis is a significant side effect in cancer therapy (between 20%
and 100% of patients, depending on the type of cancer and treatment). It
is characterized by intestinal tissue destruction throughout the GI
tract, including painful mouth ulcerations. In the U.S. alone there are
more than 10 million patients undergoing cancer treatments and 1.5
million new cancer cases per year. There are currently no effective
treatments for GI Mucositis available in the marketplace and treatment
for Oral Mucositis is very expensive and limited to a narrow group of
eligible patients.
Anadis’ clinical studies will be initially
conducted at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. It is one of the largest
hospitals in Israel with teaching and research centers affiliated with
the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. The study at Tel
Aviv Medical Center is led by Professor Nachum Vaisman, the head of
Clinical Nutrition and by Professor Zamir Halpern, the head of the
Gastrointestinal Institute.
Dr. Zeil Rosenberg, CEO of Anadis said “Oral
and GI tract mucositis are health issues that affect a significant
portion of the patient population. The pain and discomfort of Mucositis
is among the top reasons for people to stop their cancer therapy and is
also correlated with poor disease outcome. We hope that our product will
become a new Gold Standard in cancer treatment, addressing the needs of
millions of cancer patients.”
Dr. Oren Fuerst, VP Business Development at Anadis said, “We
continue to receive recognition to the value of our immune milk-derived
platform. In this case, the product will have a significant impact on
the cancer treatment world, enabling longer and more effective treatment
to millions of patients. We also believe our product will positively
impact the oncology drug and biotherapuetics industry, improving their
safety profile and thereby allowing more sustained use of new products.
We intend to partner with these companies for the benefit of cancer
patients.”
Keyword Tags:
antibodies, cancer, milk, mucositis,
oncology, polyclonal antibody
ABN03530185
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