On February 5, 2025 Armaceutica reported US patent granted titled: Bifunctional Compositions for the Treatment of Cancer (Press release, Armaceutica, FEB 5, 2025, View Source [SID1234650068]). This drug, which is often used to treat malaria, is being repurposed by Armaceutica, Inc. to treat various types of cancer.
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Renato Aguilera, Ph.D. and Biology Professor and cancer researcher at the University of Texas at El Paso, published data demonstrating that the drug (pyronaridine, or PND) kills various types of cancer cells.3
Pyronaridine was shown to preferentially kill certain types of leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma, lung, ovarian, and breast cancer cells while limiting off-target toxicities in normal, healthy cells.3 That is, pyronaridine had reduced effects on non-cancerous cells with a favorable selective cytotoxicity index (SCI), as compared with cancerous cells.3
Dr. Aguilera’s studies revealed that pyronaridine inhibits the activity of a critical enzyme (topoisomerase II) required for DNA replication and cancer cell division.4
Studies on mice with metastatic human breast cancer showed the group that received pyronaridine had smaller tumor volumes (P<0.0001) and increased longevity than control mice.4 A study on dogs with cancer showed pyronaridine reduced tumor volumes and increased longevity.1 In one case a lymphoma tumor shrunk by 70%.1 A pilot study on terminally-ill humans with late-stage cancers of the breast, lung and liver; pyronaridine appears to have increased longevity.1
The company’s CEO, Ernest Armstrong, said: "Pyronaridine represents a disruptive breakthrough relative to other cancer therapies. Pyronaridine has been proven safe and effective for malaria in at least four phase 3 studies and is an approved drug in parts of Asia and Africa." 2
Patent offices in Australia, Canada, EU, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and the UK have granted patents corresponding to U S Patent No.: 12,201,626.
If you or a loved one has ever been treated with chemotherapy, you’ll understand how devastating the side effects can be.
Dr. Aguilera stated: "If the drug were available in the US and approved as an anti-cancer treatment, I would take it in an instant, if I came down with cancer."
Armaceutica, Inc. is a US-based pharmaceutical company focused on low-toxicity cancer treatments. Armaceutica is seeking a partner to develop pyronaridine into an approved drug for cancer, a process that will take several years.
References: 1US Patent No.: 12,201,626, Jan. 21, 2025. 2Croft et al., Malaria Journal 2012, 11:270. 3 Villanueva PJ, et al., PLOS One, 5 Nov 2018, 13(11):e0206467. 4 Villanueva PJ, et al., Clinical Cancer Drugs 2021, 8:50-56.