VANCOUVER, BC–(Marketwired – August 29, 2016) – BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (OTCQB: BIOAF) (TSX VENTURE: BTI), a pioneering biopharmaceutical company focused on overcoming the limitations of therapeutic drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed scientific paper detailing the results of an in-vivo study of the treatment of Metastatic HER2+ Breast Cancer brain tumors in an animal model using BT2111, biOasis’s Trastuzumab-Melanotransferrin (Transcend) Conjugate.
The paper, entitled, “Anti-cancer Antibody Trastuzumab-Melanotransferrin Conjugate (BT2111) for the Treatment of Metastatic HER2+ Breast Cancer Tumors in the Brain: An In-Vivo Study,” was published in Pharmaceutical Research, an official Journal of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. (Citation: Nounou, M.I., Adkins, C.E., Rubinchik, E. et al. Pharm Res (2016). doi:10.1007/s11095-016-2015-0)
The results detailed in the paper are from studies performed under the direction of Dr. Paul Lockman at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy. In the study it was shown that the biOasis Transcend-Trastuzumab (Herceptin®) conjugate, BT2111, reduced the number of metastatic human HER2+ breast cancer tumors in the brains of test animals by 68% compared to control animals. Tumors that remained after treatment were 57% to 60% smaller than those in the control animals. In contrast, neither the administration of Trastuzumab alone nor hMTf (Transcend) alone was accompanied by a reduction in brain tumor number or size.
In the final paragraph of the paper’s “Results” section, the authors state, “The results presented in this study provide evidence that BT2111 has efficacy in treating brain metastasis in preclinical models and validates the role hMTf has as a vector (Transcend vector platform) for the transport of antibodies across the BBB. This study has shown that Transcend can deliver Herceptin®, a chemotherapeutic used to treat HER2-positive breast cancer, in sufficient quantity to the brain to significantly reduce the number of HER2-positive metastatic brain tumors. The ability to more effectively permeate both the blood-brain and the blood-tumor barrier opens the door for the creation of new drugs designed to treat a wide variety of neurological diseases and disorders. Additionally, Transcend vector platform offers the potential to take existing clinically approved drugs that are near their end of patent life and extend them.”
In May, 2015, biOasis announced continued success with the Transcend Platform using its lead blood-brain barrier delivery vector, melanotransferrin peptide or MTfp, to deliver Trastuzumab (TZM) across the blood-brain barrier. The results revealed that the Transcend fusion protein MTfp-TZM showed increased activity against Her2+ brain tumors when compared to Transcend/Trastuzumab conjugates that biOasis has previously tested, including the BT2111 conjugate used in the study at Texas Tech University.
Rob Hutchison, biOasis CEO, stated, “We knew the researchers from Texas Tech University were planning to submit a paper for publication. Because it was their paper, we simply waited for the process to unfold and the wait was very much worth it. The paper has been peer-reviewed, published and has been extremely well received. The publishing of this work is very important to biOasis in order to obtain scientific acceptance in academic communities and within the pharmaceutical industry. On behalf of biOasis I want express our gratitude to all of the contributors to this very important study.”
About Transcend
Transcend is biOasis’ proprietary platform for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of metastatic brain cancers as well as neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. The delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier represents the single greatest challenge in treating neurological disorders. The ability to effectively and safely transverse the blood-brain barrier with the Transcend peptide carrier, MTfp, offers the opportunity for biOasis to deliver therapeutics into the brain at doses sufficient to have a therapeutic effect.
About biOasis
biOasis Technologies Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in the Vancouver, Canada area, focused on overcoming the limitations of therapeutic drug delivery across the BBB. The company is developing and commercializing a proprietary brain delivery technology to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of central nervous system disorders. biOasis trades on the OTCQB under the symbol “BIOAF” and on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “BTI”. For more information about the company please visit www.bioasis.ca.
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On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Rob Hutchison, Chairman & CEO
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Company Contact
Rob Hutchison
biOasis Technologies Inc.
info@bioasis.ca
1-604-644-1232