NanoMed Pharmaceuticals Awarded STTR to Further Develop Botanical Drug for Oral Cancer Chemoprevention

KALAMAZOO, MI., (September 13, 2006) - NanoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an advanced drug delivery company developing therapeutic and diagnostic products to treat or detect disease, announced today that it has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, for "Bioadhesive Gels for Oral Cancer Chemoprevention." The work funded by this Phase I grant will be completed at the company's laboratory located in the University of Kentucky's Advanced Science & Technology Commercialization Center, and in collaboration with researchers at the University of Kentucky and The Ohio State University.

NanoMed, working with Dr. Susan R. Mallery, DDS, PhD, a dentist and oral pathologist in The Ohio State University College of Dentistry and a member of The OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center, Gary D. Stoner, PhD, Director, Cancer Chemoprevention and Support Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology and Co-Director, Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, The OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Peter E. Larsen, DDS, Professor of Dentistry and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, and Russell J. Mumper, PhD, vice chair and associate professor in the University of Kentucky, College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, will design and test novel bioadhesive gels that contain cancer fighting botanical compounds in human volunteers to determine the gels' abilities to effectively deliver the cancer preventing agents to oral tissues. Despite concerted efforts to improve therapy, five year survival rates for patients with advanced stage oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remain discouragingly low. Clearly, early detection combined with strategies for local intervention, such as chemoprevention prior to SCC development, could dramatically improve clinical outcomes. Researchers at The Ohio State University have shown that black raspberries possess cancer preventing properties in vitro and in vivo. For persons with precancerous lesions, or oral epithelial dysplasia, chemoprevention is likely to be necessary for the remainder of their lives. Therefore, identification of nontoxic, effective agents delivered in formulations that provide maximal concentrations at the lesion site, is necessary to improve patient prognosis.

About NanoMed
NanoMed Pharmaceuticals®, Inc. (www.nanomedpharm.com) is an advanced drug delivery company developing nanoparticle-based therapeutic and diagnostic products to treat or detect disease. The Company's initial focus is cancer therapeutics and diagnostics. NanoMed's core technology, Nanotemplate Engineering™, is a nanoparticle manufacturing process used to formulate small molecules, peptides, proteins, plasmid DNA, and diagnostic agents. The company is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

 

 

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