On March 22, 2022 Propanc Biopharma, Inc. (OTCQB: PPCB) ("Propanc" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer treatments for patients suffering from recurring and metastatic cancer, reported that a Notice of Allowance has been received from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for claims involving a novel method to treat cancer stem cells (CSC’s) (Press release, Propanc, MAR 22, 2022, View Source [SID1234610600]). The allowed US patent protects proprietary claims capturing methods and uses for pancreatic proenzymes to treat cancer by specifically targeting and eradicating CSCs.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
CSCs represent only a small fraction of the cell population within a tumor and can remain dormant for periods of time, thereby evading standard treatment approaches like radiation and chemotherapy that target dividing cells. Therefore, a priority for improving treatment and reducing risk of relapse is to develop a strategy that targets CSC eradication, whilst leaving healthy cells alone. This continues to be a specific area of focus as the Company’s lead product candidate, PRP, advances to a First-In-Human study for the treatment of patients with late-stage solid tumors.
The allowed patent, citing the novel CSC treatment method, is currently one of 4 patent families, consisting of 65 patents either in force, or pending in global jurisdictions. It is the first allowed by the USPTO covering a method of minimizing the progression of cancer in a patient by administering a therapeutically effective amount of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, thereby preventing metastatic cancer in the patient by targeting and eradicating CSCs from solid tumors.
"The allowance of this patent by the USPTO is a significant step for our intellectual property portfolio in the biggest global healthcare market in the world and confirms our claims cover a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment and prevention of metastatic cancer, which is the main cause of patient death for sufferers," said James Nathanielsz, Propanc’s Chief Executive Officer. "It is especially important to continue to expand and grow our intellectual property portfolio, as we advance further along the drug development pathway. Additional patent applications are anticipated and we are excited about the growth and commercial potential of our portfolio with the goal of creating significant, long term shareholder value."
A point of difference from other CSC therapies is the ability of the Company’s technology to differentiate cancer stem cells back towards exhibiting normal behavior, so they become benign and die naturally, rather than directly killing CSCs. This means that CSCs are selectively targeted based on the proteins they express, which healthy cells do not, resulting in leaving healthy stem cells alone. Therefore, based on scientific evidence to date, PRP is considered less toxic compared to standard treatment approaches. PRP is a mixture of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen from bovine pancreas administered by intravenous injection. A synergistic ratio of 1:6 inhibits growth of most tumor cells. Examples include kidney, ovarian, breast, brain, prostate, colorectal, lung liver, uterine and skin cancers.