Georgia State University to develop anticancer compounds with Cisen
Georgia State and Cisen are working together to develop compounds to treat leukemia; the same compounds can also be applied to numerous cancers
Georgia State University in the US has signed a licence agreement with Cisen Pharmaceutical Company, a comprehensive pharmaceutical enterprise in China, to develop cancer fighting compounds designed by Georgia State researcher Dr Binghe Wang, in collaboration with Professor Muxiang Zhou of Emory University, a cancer biologist.
Georgia State and Cisen are working together to develop compounds to treat leukemia. The same compounds can also be applied to numerous cancers. Through the partnership, Georgia State and Cisen will conduct clinical trials and develop a product for the Chinese market.
Georgia State would retain the right to partner with companies worldwide to develop the product for the US and other markets. The university is interested in engaging in additional partnerships, according to Dr Chester Bisbee, associate vice president and director of the Office of Technology Licensing and Commercialisation.
Through the inhibition of MDM2-MDM4 dimerisation, the anticancer drug candidate regulates the levels of p53, a protein that is considered the 'guardian of the genome', and induces cell death when things go awry as in the case of cancer. In some forms of cancer, the cancer cells suppress the level of p53, protecting the cancer cells. Wang has developed a group of compounds that removes cancer’s ability to suppress this protein.
The compounds could potentially be worth millions of dollars, with milestone payments and royalties for Georgia State.
