On June 1, 2020 AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTCQB: AXIM) ("AXIM Biotech," "AXIM" or "the Company"), an international healthcare solutions company targeting oncological research, reported that its subsidiary Sapphire Biotech, Inc. ("Sapphire") has started pre-clinical animal drug studies on its new compound, SPX-1009 (Press release, AXIM Biotechnologies, JUN 1, 2020, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=axim-biotechnologies-begins-pre-clinical-pharmacokinetic-animal-drug-studies-on-its-cancer-drug-compound-spx-1009 [SID1234560718]).
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"We look forward to the next step in the race to finding a cure for cancer," said John W. Huemoeller II, Chief Executive Officer of AXIM Biotech. "After very positive in vitro studies, this pharmacokinetic animal study will tell us whether we have a potential drug candidate for humans. Because it is an analog of a drug that has already completed animal studies, we expect positive results."
Quiescin Sulfhydryl Oxidase 1 (QSOX1), an enzyme that is over-expressed by tumor cells in numerous cancers, has been shown to be involved in cancer invasion and metastasis. Earlier this year, Sapphire acquired exclusive license rights to a small molecule, SBI-183. SBI-183 has been proven to inhibit the enzymatic activity of QSOX1 and suppress tumor cell invasion in vitro and metastasis of MDA-MB-231 breast tumor cells in vivo. SBI-183 also suppressed human xenograft primary kidney tumor growth by 86 percent compared to controls.
Sapphire scientists have generated and tested over 90 analogs of SBI-183 and discovered that one analog, SPX-1009, was tenfold more potent than SBI-183 in suppressing tumor invasion and metastasis in vitro. Further testing revealed that SPX-1009 suppressed invasion of breast, kidney and pancreas tumor cells in 2D and 3D invasion assays at tenfold lower concentrations than the parent compound SBI-183.
Oral and intravenous therapy (IV) formulations of SPX-1009 are being tested in pharmacokinetic animal studies to determine the optimal route of treatment.
"We are hopeful that SPX-1009 will block metastasis in patients which, after all, is what causes death in the vast majority of cancer patients," said Catalina Valencia, Chief Executive Officer of Sapphire Biotech.