Oslo, Norway, 5 December 2005. PhotoCure ASA is, together with its subsidiary PCI Biotech AS, developing a proprietary technology for site-specific drug delivery called photochemical internalisation (PCI). The PCI technology uses light to activate drug delivery and can be used to enhance the effect of drugs by targeted illumination of specific sites of the body (e.g. in tumours). The technology 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.

In a scientific article, published in the acknowledged cancer journal Clinical Cancer Research, it is now demonstrated that PCI can significantly improve the curative effect of the anti-cancer drug bleomycin in animal models. The article shows that by employing PCI, fully curative effects can be achieved with a dose of bleomycin that in itself is inefficient in inducing tumour cure. 

The article demonstrates the potential of the PCI technology to make tumour treatment more efficient and specific, potentially making it possible to reduce the required doses of anti-cancer drugs to a level where side effects may be substantially reduced, while the therapeutic effects are improved.