Houston Texas – April 30,
2007 - Baylor
College of Medicine and Advantagene Inc., a US biotechnology company with
offices in Massachusetts announced today that they have entered into
an agreement to allow Advantagene Inc. to license the exclusive,
worldwide rights to intellectual property related to a novel cancer
immunotherapy. The
technology concerns methods of treating cancer by transferring genes
to the tumor cells that make them highly sensitive to approved
anti-herpes drugs. These drugs are then used to kill the tumor
cells. It was initially developed by Baylor researchers, Drs.
Savio Woo and Shu-Hsia
Chen in the 1990’s. Subsequently, Dr.
Aguilar-Cordova continued research in this area and Baylor and
Advantagene jointly developed the use of this therapy in combination
with radiation therapy for the treatment of solid tumors. Advantagene is now in
clinical development with this project for multiple indications. The
financial terms of the license agreement were not
disclosed.
Advantagene’s core technology is
called Gene Mediated Cytotoxic
Immunotherapy (GMCI™), as the local killing of tumor cells
leads to a strong anti-tumor immune response throughout the body.
This immune response is
believed to be the mechanism for the reductions in tumor recurrence
observed in clinical trials.
Advantagene is currently using the technology in trials for
prostate cancer, brain cancer and pancreatic
cancer
Estuardo Aguilar-Cordova, CEO of
Advantagene commented: “We are delighted to solidify our access to
this technology and finalize to this agreement. We look forward to a
fruitful partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and to
developing drugs based on this technology that will improve clinical
outcomes for cancer patients.”
About Baylor College
of Medicine:
Baylor
College of Medicine, one of the nation's top academic health
sciences centers, is committed to advancing human health through the
integration of patient care, research, education and community
service
Baylor
College of Medicine, the only private medical school in the Greater
Southwest, was founded in 1900 and is today an internationally
respected medical and research institution known for excellence in
education, research and patient care. Today, the College
consistently ranks among the top of the country's 125 medical
schools. For 2007, U.S. News & World Report has again ranked the
College No. 10 on its list of top medical schools. BCM also is
listed 11th among all U.S. medical schools for National Institutes
of Health funding, and No. 1 for research expenditures in biological
science by the National Science Foundation. Located in the Texas
Medical Center, a 700-acre complex housing 42 member institutions,
BCM has affiliations with seven teaching hospitals, each with a
national and international reputation for medical excellence. The
College has total research support exceeding $343 million, with $296
million from federal sources, and more than 90 research and
patient-care centers and units. Currently, BCM trains more than
3,000 medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, and physician assistant
students, as well as residents and post-doctoral fellows. For more
information, please visit: www.bcm.edu.
About
Advantagene:
Advantagene
is a privately held Delaware corporation with operations in Waban
Massachussetts. Advantagene’s core mission is to develop therapies
to increase efficacy and reduce morbidity from the treatment of
cancer. It is currently raising funds to finance pivotal trials to
gain approval for its biological drugs.
For more
information, contact:
Brian Guzik
Executive
Director, Business Development
Advantagene
Inc.
440 Lexington
Street
Auburndale,
MA 02466
tel: 617-916-5445
email: bguzik@advantagene.com
or visit
www.advantagene.com
