Garmen to Make Podophyllotoxin Extract Adva-27a for Sunshine BioPharma
The proposed takeover – financial terms of which were not disclosed – will also see Garmen’s 45-strong workforce produce a 1kg batch of an anticancer drug being developed by Advanomics’ subsidiary Sunshine Biopharma at its good manufacturing practices (GMP) lab in Montreal.
Advanomics said that: “The material will be used to complete the remaining studies required to file an investigational new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and conduct the Breast Cancer Phase I clinical trial of Adva-27a.”
News of the deal follows two weeks after Advanomics and academic partner Ecole Polytechnique received a C$1.4m (US$510,000) grant from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to advance development of the drug.
Plant with anticancer pedigree
Adva-27a is a novel derivative of the non-alkaloid toxin lignan podophyllotoxin, which is extracted from the roots and rhizomes of the Podophyllum species of herbaceous perennial plants.
Podophyllotoxin has been used in topical treatments for genital warts caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) in products sold under the brand names Condylox and Wartec. The compound is also used in the production of the anticancer drug etoposide.
According to a study conducted by Ecole Polytechnique the extract Adva-27a should potential as an treatment for drug resistant tumours when testing in In the multidrug-resistant cell lines, MCF-7/MDR (breast cancer) and H69AR (small-cell lung cancer).
“Our studies have identified Adva-27a as a novel topoisomerase II inhibitor with superior cytotoxic activity against multidrug-resistant human cancer cells and more desirable pharmacokinetic properties than etoposide.”
In addition to providing contract manufacturing services Garmen also carries out analytical testing work on behalf of government agencies, academic institutions and customer in the pharmaceutical, food and nutraceutical industries.
