Multi-million backing for NZ anti-cancer drug

By JEREMY REES

Development of an anti-cancer treatment discovered in New Zealand is to get a multimillion-dollar boost from a British pharmaceutical company.

Auckland University scientists have signed a substantial licensing agreement with British company, Antisoma to develop the treatment known as DMXAA, which starves tumours.

Antisoma, which has market capitalisation of $186 million, bought the rights to DMXAA for $2.3 million plus milestone payments and royalties.

While no one is making extravagant claims for the treatment, studies so far have been encouraging.

DMXAA, named for its chemical makeup, restricts a tumour's supply of nutrients by

constricting its tiny blood vessels and stimulating the release of immune system chemicals called cytokines that cause the blood vessels to haemorrhage.

Scientists believe that once the tumour is weakened, it either dies or can be destroyed more easily by other forms of cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy.

Exactly how DMXAA restricts the blood supply at a molecular level is still unclear.

Professor Bruce Baguley, who with Professor Bill Denny led the team which discovered DMXAA's properties, said research was at an early stage but it had shown promising results.

"A single dose in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents caused tumours to disappear at a rate we have not seen before."

No one is saying how much the Antisoma agreement could eventually be worth, but Auckland University said yesterday that the value was substantial and reflected the "significant market potential" if the treatment works.

The agreement, announced in Britain and New Zealand yesterday, means Auckland UniServices - the university's commercial marketing arm - British-based Cancer Research Ventures and the Auckland Cancer Society, which helped pay for the work through its Cancer Research Laboratory, will receive royalties if the drug is a success.



A team of scentists in Auckland has been working on DMXAA for 15 years, although its tumour-starving qualities have become apparent only in the past few years.

Two human clinical trials, known as Phase 1 trials, have been finished in New Zealand and Britain. Antisoma now aims to start studies using DMXAA with chemotherapy by the end of next year.

UniServices chief Dr John Kernohan said: " It is a terrific outcome for New Zealand university-based research.

"Our scientists have discovered a new approach for treating cancer.

"We believe DMXAA also stimulates the body's natural anti-tumour defence mechanisms, and may enhance the efficacy of current treatments in fighting cancer."