Woomera Therapeutics
Woomera Therapeutics, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical
company dedicated to developing novel immuno-products targeting
unique markers for the  treatment
of cancers. Their technology platform is based on over thirty years
of research by Dr. William G. North, professor of physiology at
Dartmouth Medical School and co-founder and president of Woomera.
Dr. Roy H.L. Pang (chief executive officer and chief scientific
officer), Howard S. Young III TU '03 (director of business development),
and Dr. Brendan P. Keegan, (co-founder) round out the team.
The addressable market for new small-cell lung
cancer (SCLC) patients is over $1 billion per year; for new breast
cancer patients, over $5.4 billion per year. In the United States,
there are about 42,000 new cases of SCLC per year with 6 percent
survival after five years. There are 217,440 new cases of breast
cancer per year with an 86 percent survival rate after five years.
Current treatments for SCLC provide little hope and negatively impact
quality of life. Current breast cancer treatments are more effective,
but often require radical procedures and debilitating chemotherapy.
Woomera's technology platform is based on the
discovery of unique cancer markers: provasopressin (the precursor
of vasopressin) and the associated abnormal vasopressin V2 receptor.
Small-cell lung cancer and breast cancer cells produce the provasopressin
and the abnormal V2 receptor as part of the cell membranes. In nature,
these markers are not found on normal human cell membranes. The
platform provides multiple avenues for product development. These
products are intended to specifically kill the cancer cells with
little or no harm to the normal tissues. The most advanced product
is MAG-1, a monoclonal antibody against provasopressin to treat
SCLC and breast cancer. In human tissue and a patient study, the
company's products have:
- Detected all breast cancer cell lines and
tissue samples
- Detected all small cell lung cancer cell
lines and tissue samples
- Detected tumors in all SCLC patients tested
with active disease
- Showed no tumor for a patient in remission
- Did not image normal tissues of all organs
- Did not affect the normal vasopressin physiology
during the study
Studies to date confirm the antibodies under
development bind only to the cancer and not to normal tissues. Unlike
conventional treatments, this specificity means that MAG-1-based
products will specifically target and kill cancer cells while minimizing
drug toxicity to patients. The company is further testing MAG-1
to image tumors in SCLC and breast cancer patients at the Royal
Victoria Hospital in Montreal. The company is also conducting safety
and efficacy studies in animal models to define the product formulation.
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