RICHMOND, British Columbia, Nov. 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioCurex, Inc. (OTCBB:BOCX) -- today announced that it has filed a new patent within the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which presently includes 142 countries.
The subject of this patent is a synthetic peptide that recognizes RECAF™ and that can replace the antibodies used in BioCurex's RECAF test. The synthetic peptide also allows for many other applications that cannot be performed with an antibody. BioCurex's patent application contains over 50 claims covering different applications and uses of this peptide.
"This is one of our most significant technical advancements since the RECAF cancer test was announced," said BioCurex CEO and President Dr. Ricardo Moro-Vidal. "The product of several years of work, this patent will improve everything we do while reducing the complexity and cost of the process. Most importantly, the granting of this new patent application will extend the life of our current patents by two decades. Furthermore, this peptide opens a wide range of possibilities for delivering killing agents to cancer cells."
An antibody is a biological reagent that requires production under sterile conditions in large volumes of cell culture medium. The antibodies then need to be extracted and purified from the medium. This process is expensive and delicate. The synthetic peptide will allow BioCurex to replace the antibodies in the RECAF test. A peptide is a short sequence of amino acids, much like a very small protein. Peptides are produced with an automated peptide synthesizer. A well known small peptide is aspartame, the synthetic sweetener used in Nutrasweet®.
To make a peptide in a laboratory, its amino acids sequence is entered into a computer and the rest of the process is automatically handled by special computer software. Since the peptide is synthesized chemically rather than biologically, the batch-to-batch variability is drastically reduced and the cost reduction is significant. Being small molecules, peptides are also more stable than antibodies, resulting in longer shelf life and related issues.
The most important advantage of peptides over antibodies is their flexibility: Antibodies cannot be modified unless very expensive and complex molecular engineering processes are used. To change the specificity of an antibody, one has to develop a new one, which is a very labor intensive and unpredictable process. On the other hand, to modify a peptide, all that is required is to use a different amino acid sequence on the computer. This tremendous flexibility opens many possibilities for BioCurex, some of which are listed below:
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Tailoring dog, cat and other animal RECAF tests for each species rather than relying on the cross reactivity exhibited by anti-human RECAF antibodies against dog RECAF.
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Tailor-tagging of the peptide for different uses such as cancer targeted therapy, imaging or blood diagnostic tests.
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Attaching the peptide to liposomes for cancer targeting. Liposomes are artificially prepared vesicles that can be filled with anti-cancer drugs, Interference RNA or other compounds and delivered to cancer cells. Attaching the peptide to the surface of liposomes should increase the delivery to cancer cells since the BioCurex peptide recognizes RECAF and RECAF is on the surface of cancer cells but not on healthy cells. Liposomes are used for delivery of a variety of formulations from medicine to cosmetics.
- Incorporation of a DNA sequence that encodes the peptide into the DNA or RNA of a virus which would then express the peptide on its surface. Since the peptide recognizes RECAF which is on cancer cells but not on normal cells, the virus would only infect and kill the cancer cells thus becoming an oncolytic virus.
For more information on the Patent Cooperation Treaty, visit http://www.wipo.int/pct/en.
About BioCurex, Inc.
BioCurex, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing products based on patented and proprietary technology in the area of cancer diagnostics. The technology identifies a universal cancer marker known as RECAF.
RECAF is a molecule that is present on cancer cells but not detected in significant levels on healthy cells or benign tumor cells. It is the receptor for alpha-fetoprotein and is classified as an oncofetal antigen due to its presence on both fetal and malignant tissues. This characteristic makes RECAF a more accurate indicator of cancer than most current tumor markers.
BioCurex is commercializing its technology through licensing arrangements with companies that develop and market diagnostic tests for the large automated clinical laboratory setting, through development and marketing of non-automated clinical laboratory tests, through development of rapid, point-of-care test formats, and through marketing of its OncoPet RECAF test for cancer in companion animals.
BioCurex has signed licensing agreements for its cancer detection blood tests with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) and with Alere (NYSE:ALR), formerly Inverness Medical Innovations (NYSE:IMA).
For further information on these agreements visit: http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1092562/000100487808000117/sb2amnd4s1april08.txt.
For more information about the Company, please visit www.BioCurex.com.
For more information about OncoPet Diagnostics Inc., please visit: www.OncoPetDiagnostics.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
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