Three National Cancer Institute inventors received the FLC Mid-Atlantic Region's prestigious Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. At an awards ceremony on October 7, Drs. Frank Gonzalez, Ira Pastan, Nadya Tarasova, and Michael Dean were recognized for their outstanding work transferring their technologies to the marketplace.
Drs. Gonzalez and Pedro Fernandez-Salguero received the award for their work identifying patients who will have a life-threatening reaction to the widely used anti-cancer drug, 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). The doctors developed a diagnostic test that identifies cancer patients who may experience 5-FU toxicity. It is now possible to avoid 5-FU toxicity by using this diagnostic screening test prior to administering 5-FU. The technology has been nonexclusively licensed to several companies.
Also honored was Dr. Ira Pastan's work on the development of monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer. Drs. Pastan, Kai Chang, Mark Willingham and Partha Chowdhury developed a monoclonal antibody to a protein that is preferentially expressed on the cells of a number of different cancers, including mesothelioma, and ovarian and pancreatic cancers. The technology has been licensed to Morphoteck, Inc., and under a CRADA, Dr. Pastan and Morphoteck are engineering humanized antibodies to improve their therapeutic value and to evaluate their toxicity and efficacy. One of these monoclonal antibodies, MORAb-009, is currently in Phase II clinical trials to treat pancreatic cancer.
Drs. Nadya Tarasova, Michael Dean, Sergei Tarasov, and Hong Lou were recognized for their work on the development of peptidomimetics—compounds designed to mimic the natural protein, but that have structural differences to give them advantages as a drug. These researchers have focused on developing peptidomimetics for a cell signaling pathway that is involved in embryonic growth and development, and that is activated in many types of cancer. Work to further develop these peptidomimetics as anti-cancer treatments continues under a license and CRADA with Calidris Therapeutics. In addition, the technology is licensed to Lee Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., for the development of psoriasis treatments.
