Toxcure granted U.S. patent for method of treating neoplasms with neurotoxins

May 21 2010

Toxcure, LLC, an emerging specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced the grant of U.S. Patent No. 7,709,440, which provides Toxcure with intellectual property protection for a method of treating various tumors with neurotoxins.

“The use of a neurotoxin as neoadjuvant therapy has significant application to a number of cancers, and our preliminary data with botulinum toxin is very promising in the treatment of solid tumors”

The patent, titled "Treating Neoplasms with Neurotoxin," outlines the use of botulinum toxin around the cancer cell to decrease the contractile forces of the muscles surrounding a neoplasm which normally squeeze cancer cells through efferent channels leaving the cancer vicinity to distant sites.

Toxcure plans to advance the clinical use of neurotoxins in the field of oncology based on data recently generated in preclinical studies comparing tumors treated with neurotoxin plus chemotherapy to tumors treated with neurotoxin alone. These data demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in tumor growth in the neurotoxin-plus-chemotherapy group, as well as a trend toward reduced growth in the neurotoxin-treated group. In addition, Toxcure has additional patent applications for neurotoxin use to enhance cellular and humoral immunologic functions to support cancer cell death or to prevent the spread of cancer cells.

"The use of a neurotoxin as neoadjuvant therapy has significant application to a number of cancers, and our preliminary data with botulinum toxin is very promising in the treatment of solid tumors," stated Toxcure President and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Christopher Shaari. "In addition, this patent supports our corporate strategy of seeking partners to further develop this potential treatment approach."