Mar 9 2011
Biotechnology company MabCure, Inc. (OTCBB: MBCI) is presenting the results of its recently completed study on the diagnosis of ovarian cancer utilizing its proprietary monoclonal antibodies at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecological Oncologists (SGO).
The 2011 Annual SGO meeting on Women's Cancer currently underway in Orlando, Florida, will be the first time MabCure has shared its peer reviewed data from a July 2010 study. The study results provide initial clinical proof of concept that MabCure's ovarian cancer antibodies are capable of distinguishing between ovarian cancer and benign tumors of the ovary with 100% specificity, i.e. no false positives.
MabCure conducted the blinded study of several of its ovarian cancer monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against 54 different blood samples, in collaboration with Professor Vergote of the Department of Gynecological Oncology at UZ Hospital in Leuven, Belgium. The samples were comprised of 17 patients with ovarian cancer, 5 patients with benign tumors of the ovaries, 24 healthy young females and 8 males. Results showed that three of MabCure's MAbs correctly identified 16 of the 17 ovarian cancers, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 94 percent and 100 percent correct classification of the benign tumors.
MabCure's proprietary technology is based on re-engineered hybridoma methodology, designed to achieve significant quantitative and qualitative improvements. As such, MabCure is capable of generating more than 10,000 hybridomas over the course of 4-6 weeks compared to classic hybridoma which generates 500-2,000 hybridomas over a period of 4-6 months. Furthermore, MabCure's proprietary technology preserves the three-dimensional structure of the surface antigens on the cancer cells. This allows the immune system to generate highly specific antibodies against the native antigens (i.e. markers) on the cancer cell. The combination of highly specific antibodies coupled with large output, i.e. large library containing more than 30,000 hybridomas, provides MabCure with the ability to select only a handful of the most highly specific monoclonal antibodies against unique tumor specific antigens (TSA) appearing on targeted cancer cells.
A key feature in MabCure's antibodies is that they are directed against TSA which are uniquely expressed on cancer cells but not on normal cells. These are distinct from most therapeutic or diagnostic antibodies which target normal antigens that are over-expressed in subsets of patients having certain cancers.
MabCure's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Charles Tackney, who is presenting MabCure's results at the SGO meeting, stated that "there is a critical need for new diagnostic tools which would allow physicians to quickly and reliably determine a patient's disease status. MabCure's results are at a pivotal phase in that process. There is much interest from physicians and researchers alike in the current study, as well as seeing the results of our larger study in progress and the determination of the cellular targets identified by MabCure's antibodies. Confirmation of initial results and the deployment of a robust and validated immunoassay are an active and exciting part of the conversation at SGO. Our data has certainly generated much interest and promises to deliver on a much needed new medical diagnostic tool for oncologists."
MabCure intends to expand on this study with a follow-on study of more than 100 blood samples containing ovarian cancer and benign tumors of the ovaries, in collaboration with the Catholic University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium. Both the samples from this study as well as samples from the Company's clinical study in Thailand are expected to be analyzed concurrently, using highly purified MAbs, during the second quarter of 2011.
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