Q BioMed Inc (OTCQB:QBIO) said it has secured patent protection in Japan and Canada for a potential chemotherapy that could become a new and potent weapon in the fight against liver cancer.
The company has received notices of allowance in both countries, which usually precede the formal patent award. The applications covered the use of the Uttroside-B molecule in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer.
International and additional US patent claims are currently underway, Q BioMed said.
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“The additional jurisdictions in which we now have patent allowance further ensures the IP protection for what could be a significant chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of liver cancer around the globe,” said Q BioMed chief executive Denis Corin in a statement.
The company will initiate a preclinical assessment of the technology before preparing an investigational new drug application for the US Food & Drug Administration by the year-end.
It was granted exclusive rights to the discovery by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Uttroside-B has shown ten times the potency against HCC when compared to the current standard of care drug in early pre-clinical investigation, Q BioMed said.
Currently, there are only two approved first-line therapies for the cancer. Challenges with current treatments include patients becoming resistant to specific drugs, adverse side effects, and high costs.
An estimated 700,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year, with the global market for liver cancer drugs expected to grow to US$3.9 billion by 2027.
Contact the author at ian.lyall@proactiveinvestors.com