Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Yissum, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has announced that scientists from the School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered a novel orally available drug that prevents metastasis formation in various types of cancers.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The novel drug is a small molecule named cis-ACCP, which is a prototype of a family of compounds that may be administered orally and was shown to be highly effective in rodents without inducing any adverse side-effects. The drug is said to inhibit enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases, which are extracellular enzymes known to play a crucial role in physiological tissue remodeling and repair.
The preclinical experiments also showed that the novel drug prevents cancer cells from invading adjacent tissues (and thus forming metastases), and is effective in treating melanoma (skin cancer) and prostate cancer in rodent model systems. The results showed that cis-ACCP significantly inhibited both tumor growth and metastasis formation.
Nava Swersky Sofer, president and CEO of Yissum, said: “This new class of drugs could potentially change the lives of millions of cancer patients by providing protection from metastasis in the form of a pill.”