"BL-4030, developed by Professor Paul J. Hergenrother from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, holds a promise of delivering personalized medicine to treat multiple types of cancer," stated Roger W. VanHoy, Senior Technology Manager, Office of Technology Management (OTM), of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "We are excited to partner with BioLineRx and see our program continue down the path towards the clinic with the goal of helping millions of people worldwide."
About BL-4030
BL-4030 is a small molecule designed to induce apoptosis in certain malignant tumors. The novel drug activates a specific protein called procaspase 3 that induces cell death once activated. BL-4030 takes advantage of the fact that procaspase 3 levels are highly elevated in certain cancers, and therefore, activation of procaspase 3 is predicted to kill only malignant cells and spare normal cells that have low levels of the apoptotic protein. Therefore, BL-4030 may have the promise of being effective with minimal toxicity. Cancers with elevated levels of procaspase 3 include lung and breast cancer, certain lymphomas, melanoma, and certain liver and nervous system cancers.
Preclinical trials showed that BL-4030 activates procaspase 3 and is able to induce death of lung and colon cancerous cells in vitro. In addition, BL-4030 was able to reduce the growth of renal and lung tumors in in vivo models without causing any overt toxicity. In addition, cell culture experiments showed that BL-4030 is particularly effective in cells with high levels of its target – procaspase 3. Therefore, the patient's response to the drug could be predicted a priori based on the levels of procaspase 3 in the tumor. Thus, BL-4030 could mark the beginning of predictive medicine for a variety of cancer types.
Just to give yous good hope. Those of us with severe RA need good things to hope for and believe.
LEV