PCI Biotech file patents for combination of siRNA and the PCI technology
Oslo, Norway, March 19, 2007
Photocure's daughter company PCI Biotech is developing a proprietary technology for site-specific drug delivery and drug enhancement called Photochemical Internalisation (PCI).
PCI Biotech has, according to an agreement with Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet HF, filed two patent applications covering the combination of siRNA (short interfering RNA) and the PCI technology. PCI Biotech plans to explore this field of the PCI-technology and will sponsor a dedicated research position within this field the next three years.
The siRNA molecule may be used to silence the effect of genes capable of developing diseases, such as cancer. It is demonstrated that PCI can be used for enhancing gene therapy of cancer.
Professor Eivind Hovig, head of the research group at Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet, says "We can potentially develop this technology to enable the doctors to offer a cancer treatment tailored to the specific genes of each patient."
Gene therapy is acknowledged as having a substantial therapeutic potential, but the realization of this potential has hitherto been severely limited by the lack of efficient, specific and safe technologies for delivering the therapeutic genes to the relevant cells in the body. The patent applications cover inventions that demonstrate that the PCI technology can contribute to solving this important issue.
Kjetil Hestdal, President and CEO of Photocure, says: "Achieving safe and efficient gene delivery in the body has been a major limiting factor in the development of gene therapy. We goal is to develop an effective treatment of cancer therapy through the combination of siRNA and the PCI technology."
PCI Biotech AS is a daughter company of Photocure, established to commercialize the company's proprietary technology for Photochemical Internalisation (PCI). The PCI technology can be used for enhancing the effect of drugs specifically at illuminated sites in the body (e.g. in tumors), and has a potential to improve the effect both of existing drugs and of emerging treatments such as gene therapy and other therapies based on biotechnological principles.
Photocure ASA is a Norwegian pharmaceutical listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. The company develops and sells pharmaceuticals and medical devices based on proprietary photodynamic technologies, targeting key dermatology and oncology markets.
Photocure has two products with sales and marketing approvals: Metvix®, which is a product developed for the treatment of skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma) and pre-cancerous skin lesions (actinic keratosis), and Hexvix®, which is developed for the detection of bladder cancer. Both products are based on the same photodynamic technology, combining the drug known as a photosensitiser with a light source that activates the photosensitiser. Photocure aims to develop a pipeline of follow-on products and technologies.
For further information, contact:
Photocure ASA
Attn. Kjetil Hestdal (President and CEO) or Christian Fekete (CFO)
Kjetil Hestdal (kh@photocure.no), Mobile: +47 913 19 535
Christian Fekete (cf@photocure.no), Mobile: +47 916 42 938
For further information, contact:
Photocure ASA, Telephone: +47 22 06 22 10
President and CEO Kjetil Hestdal (kh@photocure.no), Mobile: +47 913 19 535
CFO Christian Fekete (cf@photocure.no), Mobile: +47 916 42 938
www.photocure.com