Home » New patent strengthens Advanced Cancer Therapeutics’ product portfolio

New patent strengthens Advanced Cancer Therapeutics’ product portfolio

Louisville, KY – April 3, 2012 – Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT), a privately held company dedicated to bringing new anti-cancer therapies to market, today announced that it has been granted US Patent 8,088,385 B2 titled “PFKFB3 inhibitor for the treatment of a Proliferative Cancer” by the United States Patent Office. ACT is the exclusive licensee to this issued patent that was initially filed by the University of Louisville Research Foundation.

ACT is developing inhibitors of glycolysis targeting 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-biphosphatase 3 (PFKFB3), a cancer metabolism target identified as essential for cancer cell growth and licensed by ACT from the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville.

High glucose consumption is observed in most cancers as sugar/glucose is a key fuel source in cancer cell growth and metastasis. PFKFB3 is the enzyme involved in the first irreversible step of glycolysis, and has been validated as a relevant cancer metabolism target. By inhibiting this enzyme, novel cancer therapeutics are able to block glucose uptake in cancer cells and therefore inhibit cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth.

“This granted patent is one step in our ongoing comprehensive strategy to develop a patent portfolio of novel inhibitors around this key molecular target in cancer metabolism,” said Randall B. Riggs, president/CEO of ACT. “A clinical candidate has been identified and we intend to file an investigational new drug (IND) application in 2012 for a dose escalation Phase I human clinical study in cancer patients.”

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics is a privately held company dedicated to advancing novel therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of cancer. ACT has successfully established a unique and innovative business model with the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center (Brown Cancer Center) whereby ACT is able to obtain exclusive worldwide licenses to novel cancer therapeutics discovered at Brown Cancer Center under preset business terms. ACT then fast-tracks these discoveries, including the selection process for partnership, commercialization and manufacture, to the pharmaceutical industry, and ultimately to the patients who need them. Led by Dr. Don Miller, the Brown Cancer Center employs over fifty scientists focused on the discovery and advancement of breakthrough cancer therapeutics for patients suffering from cancer.