On December 21, 2020 Propanc Biopharma, Inc. (OTC: PPCB) ("Propanc" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer treatments for patients suffering from recurring and metastatic cancer, reported that the first granted patent for an important patent family (i.e., a set of patents filed in various countries to protect an invention) was received by the Company from the Australian Patent Office (Press release, Propanc, DEC 21, 2020, View Source [SID1234573160]). The granted patent protects proprietary claims, capturing methods and uses for pancreatic proenzymes to treat cancer, specifically, by targeting and eradicating cancer stem cells ("CSCs"). CSCs represent only a small fraction of the cancer cells within a tumor and can remain dormant for extended periods of time, thereby evading standard treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy that target dividing cells. Consequently, a priority for improving cancer treatment and reducing risk of cancer relapse is to develop new strategies that selectively target CSC eradication whilst sparing normal stem cells. This continues to be the focus of ongoing research, as the Company’s lead product candidate, PRP, advances towards clinical trials for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors.
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The granted patent, citing the novel CSC treatment method, is one of our four patent families, consisting of 65 patents either in force, or pending, and is the first to be granted covering a method of minimizing the progression of cancer in a patient by administering a therapeutically effective amount of the two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, thereby preventing metastatic, or spreading cancer in the patient. As a result, examination of patent applications in a number of other jurisdictions can be expedited where the Australian claims will be utilized for supplementary examination.
"The advancement of this patent to grant status in Australia is a significant step forward for our intellectual property portfolio and represents a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment and prevention of metastatic cancer by targeting and eradicating cancer stem cells, which is the main cause of death for sufferers," said James Nathanielsz, Propanc’s Chief Executive Officer. "It is especially important to continue to expand and grow our intellectual property portfolio as we advance PRP to clinical trials."
"Our main point of difference from other CSC therapies is the ability of our technology to differentiate cancer stem cells back towards normal cell behavior, so they die naturally, rather than directly killing CSCs. This way, we selectively target CSCs, leaving healthy stem cells alone, which means PRP is less toxic compared to standard treatment approaches," said Dr Julian Kenyon, Propanc’s Chief Scientific Officer. "Expanding our intellectual property portfolio by patenting new inventions using a world first, novel proenzyme treatment approach to target CSCs builds confidence that we are on track with our research."