Pharmaco-Kinesis Corporation has combined two tested, on-the-market cancer drugs to form one super-drug. If successful, it will be the first combination nano-drug product candidate.
PKC created the combination drug TNT by combining Merck's ($MRK) Temozolomide and Celgene's ($CELG) Thalidomide in a half-and-half formula. In in vivo lab tests of the new "nano-droplet," PKC showed it "has substantially more efficacy than formulations of these drugs currently in use by physicians," according to a release from the company.
TNT, beyond the abilities of its individual components, dissolves at body temperature in its nano-format, packing 2,000 to 20,000 molecules of each drug in one nano-droplet. And their targeting should also be improved, PKC said, giving the drugs an enhanced affinity for cancer cells and further efficacy in destroying them.
Also, to deliver TNT directly to the local site, PKC is developing its microminiaturized Metronomic Biofeedback Pump Nano (MBPn), an implantable infusion pump. The programmable device would allow the drugs to attack the cancer where the drug is most needed via multiple catheters to avoid elimination by the liver, according to the release.
"We are conducting ongoing development and testing in order to prove the efficacy of delivering proprietary nano-droplet formulations of anti-cancer medications using our MBP," PKC CEO Frank Adell said in a statement. "If these tests are successful, we believe PKC will produce a major advance in treating gliomas and potentially other types of cancer as well."
- here's the release
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