Pharma, Startups

Biotech startup raises $1M for lung cancer treatment using component of tumeric

A biotechnology startup with a lead product being developed to treat lung cancer has raised […]

A biotechnology startup with a lead product being developed to treat lung cancer has raised $1 million to advance its therapy through clinical trials. The treatment involves using curcumin, the component of tumeric that makes the spice yellow.

SignPath Pharma’s treatment involves delivering curcumin through liposomes and nanoparticles to improve its therapeutic efficacy. It has licensed three patents using curcumin from MD Anderson Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Cancer Center (now the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins) and  University of North Texas Health Science Center, according to the company’s website.

Curcumin acts as an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cell recycling agent, according to a research paper published in Advances in Experimental medicine and Biology. One of its authors, Bharat Aggarwal, a professor of cancer medicine at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center said in American Institute for Cancer Research publication Science Now that one thing that makes curcumin so attractive for treating cancer is it can attack multiple targets linked with cancer promotion at once, but he also cautioned:  “Curcumin doesn’t knock out all the light bulbs that cause cancer, it merely turns them down.”

It is believed to interact with cell survival, division, and death signaling pathways, interfering with or eliminating cancer and neuropathic disorders, according to SignPath’s website.

Dr.Lawrence Helson, the CEO of the Quakertown, Pennsylvania company, has worked in oncology research for more than 30 years at institutions such as New York Medical College and Cornell University School of Medicine (now Weill Cornell Medical College). Among the company’s backers are the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Disease and private investors. Helson is scheduled to present data from a Phase 1 study at the American Association for Cancer Research on April 9 in Washington, DC.

A cursory search on the ClinicalTrials.gov website revealed 75 clinical trials currently underway using curcumin in everything from dietary supplements and cancer to treatments for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease.

 

[Photo from Wikimedia Commons user Badagnani]

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