| G-rich Oligonuicletides that Target Hypoxia Induced
Factor (HIF)-1¦Á
Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the world.
Though advances in cancer therapy and diagnosis have considerably
improved life expectancy, the overall survival rate of patients
still remains poor. Angiogenesis is one of the crucial steps
in the pathogenesis of tumours. Drug inhibition of angiogenesis
is an area of intensive research and at least 10,000 cancer
patients worldwide have received some form of experimental
antiangiogenic therapy. More than 300 angiogenesis inhibitors
have been discovered to date; 80 antiangiogenic drugs are
currently in clinical trials. A star product of angiogenesis
inhibitors already on the market is Roche's Avastin, whose
turnover in US market reached $435 million s in the third
quarter of 2006, and exceeded $423 million in the second quarter.
The cooperative project between CMS and Baylor College of
Medicine (Houston, TX, USA) is on G-rich oligonuicletides
that target hypoxia induced factor (HIF)-1¦Á, a kind of angiogenesis
inhibitor. HIF-1¦Á has been identified as an important molecular
target for cancer therapy, since HIF-1¦Á activates the transcription
of genes that are involved in crucial aspects of cancer biology,
including angiogenesis, cell survival, glucose metabolism
and invasion. Therefore, targeting HIF-1¦Á will constitute
a novel and potent therapeutic treatment for human cancers.
In February 2007, CMS was in-licensed by Baylor College of
Medicine to hold the right to develop the new product worldwide.
CMS is currently in active preparations of pre-clinical research.
Based upon Baylor's early stage studies, these G-rich oligonuicletides
have great capacity to be potent HIF-1¦Á inhibitors and represent
a novel and promising class of anti-cancer drugs in the treatment
of metastatic human tumours.
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