On February 3, 2022 Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTRA) ("Kintara" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new solid tumor cancer therapies, reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued to Kintara United States Patent No. 11,234,955 covering a method of treating brain tumors including glioblastoma (GBM), medulloblastoma, and cancer brain tumor stem cells that has O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)-driven drug resistance (Press release, Kintara Therapeutics, FEB 3, 2022, View Source [SID1234607699]).
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The patent allows for claims recognizing the unique anti-neoplastic activity of VAL-083 on malignant brain tumor cells, in particular those cells that express the DNA repair enzyme MGMT. The MGMT repair enzyme is the principal resistance mechanism that limits significant therapeutic benefit for GBM patients receiving temozolomide (TMZ), the current first line therapy. VAL-083’s activity is independent of MGMT and provides clinical treatment opportunities for newly-diagnosed patients who express the enzyme as well as recurrent patients who fail TMZ treatment. Moreover, MGMT is a biomarker used in the diagnosis of a patient’s brain tumor and helps clinicians to understand the patient’s prognosis.
In addition to the antiproliferative activity in GBM, the patent covers the significant activity of VAL-083 for medulloblastoma, another deadly form of brain tumor, as well as the opportunity to target brain tumor stem cells, perhaps the ultimate cause of brain tumor therapy resistance. Medulloblastomas are invasive, rapidly growing, and are a common type of brain tumor in children.
"The effect of VAL-083 on brain tumor stem cells represents a unique advance," Dennis Brown, Ph.D., Kintara’s Chief Scientific Officer said. "These undifferentiated stem cells are resistant to radiation and chemotherapy and are thought to represent the source of most brain tumor recurrences. We believe the ability to target these stem cells with VAL-083 may offer clinicians additional approaches to improve patient treatment outcomes."