BioCancell

Jerusalem, Israel -- BioCancell Therapeutics, Inc. (TASE:BICL) today announced that it is collaborating with Massachussets firm Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc, in pre-clinical trials in two directions: the targeted destruction of H19 genes in cancer cells by delivering BioCancell's small interfering Ribonucleic Acid (siRNA) together with Pro-Pharmaceuticals’ DAVANAT® through IV-administration, and a combination treatment using BioCancell's BC-819 plasmid together with Pro-Pharmaceuticals’ DAVANAT® through IV-administration.

Pro-Pharmaceuticals’ proprietary polysaccharide polymer DAVANAT® targets galectin receptors on cancer cells and is in Phase ll trials for colorectal and biliary cancers. Data of end-stage colorectal cancer patients from Phase ll trials showed DAVANAT^® extended median survival by 6.7 months after all other treatments were exhausted, and significantly reduced serious adverse events (SAEs) compared to patient populations in similar trials. Additionally, the data showed no apparent change from the baseline measurements in all clinical parameters including platelets and white blood cell counts. Safety data indicates improved quality of life.

BioCancell's highly-targeted cancer therapy technology has been successfully tested in a Phase I/IIa bladder cancer clinical trial, and in individual compassionate use patients suffering from ovarian cancer and metastatic liver cancer. The drug is likewise being tested in an advanced Phase IIb bladder cancer clinical trial that recently began, following FDA approval. The technology also has shown potential for treatment of other cancers such as liver and pancreas, as well as high-incidence cancers that include lung and colon.

The collaboration will take place in the laboratories of Pro-Pharmaceuticals and elsewhere in the USA. More advanced trials will be considered by BioCancell and Pro-Pharmaceuticals upon receipt of the results of the current collaboration.

BioCancell’s technology is both Personal and Targeted. The approach is based on the identification of particular genes (Target Genes) that are highly expressed only in tumors. The regulatory sequences of these Target Genes are used to drive the expression of a toxin gene exclusively within tumor cells, enabling targeted tumor-cell destruction, leaving normal cells intact. In effect, the plasmid acts as “smart bombs”, activated only inside their targets thus destroying only the cancerous cells, while leaving healthy cells intact.

The patient's eligibility for the treatment is determined by analyzing the patient's tumor for the expression of the specific Target Genes. The diagnosis of the expression of the Target Genes are, therefore, a prerequisite for treatment and is made possible through the Company's proprietary diagnostic technology that enables detection of even a single malignant cell. Only those patients with high expression levels of the Target Genes in their tumor are eligible for treatment with high confidence of success.

Discovered by Professor Avraham Hochberg in humans, H19 is an oncofetal gene that encodes RNA (with no protein product) that is expressed at high levels in over 30 types of human cancer tissues, while existing at a nearly undetectable level in the surrounding normal tissues, thus making it an optimal weapon in the fight against cancer.

The gene is expressed abundantly in the human placenta and in several embryonic tissues, but is repressed post-natally and only re-expressed with the appearance of cancer, within cancer cells. Studies show that H19 fulfills an important role in the process of tumorigenesis, and it is thought that the gene enables tumor cells to survive and proliferate under stress conditions.

BioCancell Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceuticals corporation specializing in the development of Patient-Oriented, Targeted Therapy for the treatment of numerous types of cancer. The Company's proprietary technology constitutes a novel paradigm for the targeted destruction of cancer cells, with no effect on normal surrounding tissue and no observed side effects, allowing for long-term, safe treatment and prevention of cancer.

BioCancell was co-founded in 2004 by Professor Avraham Hochberg, Professor of Molecular Biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, based on technology developed by him over the past 15 years.

Between 2006-2008, BioCancell has successfully completed private rounds of funding and an initial public offering totalling $9 million. Its securities are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, with the major stockholders being Clal Biotechnology Industries, a member of the IDB group of companies, and Prof. Hochberg.

News