[August 05, 2014]

MTTI and National Health Research Institutes Have Joined Forces in Developing Novel Cancer Therapeutics

Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc. (MTTI) and National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), Taiwan announced today that the two parties have formed a joint collaboration in developing novel cancer therapeutics, using the proprietary DPA delivery technology to carry anticancer drugs that can be specifically delivered to and released at the tumor sites. This collaboration has recently successfully achieved proof-of-concept in preclinical xenograft models and is now moving toward the next major milestone, which is the selection of a candidate for clinical development.

This technology is based on an unexpected discovery that certain dipicolyamine derivatives are effective in delivering a therapeutic agent to target disease sites that have phosphatidylserine exposed on the external surfaces of the cell membranes.

Chuan Shih, Ph.D., Director of Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research (IBPR) of NHRI said, "We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with MTTI and apply the unique DPA technology as a novel and specific deivery system for the development of novel cancer therapeutics."

Chris Pak, President and CEO of MTTI said, "We are greatly encouraged by the robust activities and distinct advantages of this novel class of DPA-drug conjugates compared to conventional therapeutic agents in the colon cancer model. We are in the process of assessing the effectiveness of this new therapeutic agent in other tumors as well."

National Health Research Institutes

National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), established in January 1996, is an autonomous research organization under the supervision and support of the government. NHRI is dedicated to improve the health and well-being of the people, enhance the quality of biomedical research and medical care, develop medical and pharmaceutical technology as well as train and cultivate biomedical researchers. Research units including 7 institutes, 3 centers and 1 division and core facilities such as Cell Bank, Digital Library and Bioinformatics are set up for state-of-the-art medical research. Scientists at NHRI conduct mission-oriented medical research and investigate many aspects of the basic biomedical sciences, as well as specific diseases. These range from the common problems such as aging, cancer, infectious diseases, mental disorders, occupational diseases, to health policy.

Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc.

Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc. (MTTI) is a privately held biotechnology company primarily focused on the acquisition and development of novel technologies for treatment and diagnosis of human diseases. MTTI has licensed and is developing two major technology platforms to provide: (i) novel small molecule drug conjugate (SMDC) cancer therapeutics, and (ii) in vivo imaging agents. For the in vivo imaging platform, two lead product candidates, 99mTc-Duramycin and 18F-TumorVue, are being developed as novel apoptotic cell-imaging agents for the detection of atherosclerotic plaque, cardiotoxicity and the effective monitoring of cancer therapy.

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