TSX Venture: QPT
EDMONTON, April 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - Quest PharmaTech
Inc. (TSX-V: QPT) ("Quest" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical
company developing and commercializing products for the treatment
of cancer, announces that it has recently signed an exclusive
license agreement with University of
California at Los Angeles to develop and market anti-PSA IgE
technology for the treatment of cancer.
The technology was developed by Professor
Manuel Penichet and Dr. Tracy Daniels-Wells in collaboration with Dr.
Christopher Nicodemus among others.
It covers the use of immunotherapeutic IgE in development for
treatment of patients with malignancies expressing the
tumor-associated antigen PSA, which is associated with prostate
cancer.
Dr. Tracy
Daniels-Wells will present promising preclinical results
obtained with the anti-PSA monoclonal IgE as a novel therapy for
prostate cancer in the upcoming AACR meeting in Washington D.C. on April 9, 2013. The data demonstrate the
potential ability of the novel molecule to selectively open the
circulation which may improve the ability of cytotoxic therapy to
reach cancers. At the same time, the antibody can activate specific
cellular immune responses directed against PSA originating in the
tumor. The presentation includes a demonstration of antitumor
activity in a PSA expressing tumor mouse model.
Quest is focusing its commercial efforts in the
area of antibody mediated cancer immunotherapy with both IgG and
IgE products. Quest holds numerous patents for the use of tumor
associated monoclonal antibodies as immune modulators. "Both IgG
and IgE technologies are complementary and provide a novel approach
for enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy while activating
specific immunity to fight the cancer" commented Dr. Madi R. Madiyalakan, CEO of the Company.
The licensed technology platform includes three
pending patent applications. Under the license agreement, Quest is
obligated to make an upfront fee, milestone and royalty payments to
UCLA on future revenues.
About Quest PharmaTech Inc.
Quest PharmaTech is a publicly traded; Canadian
based clinical stage company developing a portfolio of product
candidates for the treatment of cancer by combining
immunotherapeutic antibodies with chemotherapy, immune-adjuvants
and photodynamic therapy. Quest has a body of clinical experience
and a new appreciation of the obstacles and potential of
combinatorial immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer by using
either immunoglobulin G or E as immune modulators to enhance tumor
specific immunity and clinical outcome.
The most advanced of its product candidates is
oregovomab, an anti-CA125 monoclonal antibody, in combination with
front-line chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian
cancer which is currently undergoing a phase IIb clinical trial in
12 centers in Italy and the U.S.
The Company's MUC1 program that has already undergone a phase I
clinical trial has the potential to permit tumor specific
immunization in more than 70% of all cancers that kill. Quest
is also conducting a phase I clinical trial for the treatment of
prostate cancer, with its photosensitizer, SL052.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Quest PharmaTech Inc.
