Lorus gets patent for anticancer agents

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., Aug. 16 - Lorus Therapeutics Inc. said its wholly owned subsidiary, GeneSense Technologies, Inc., has been issued a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for antisense oligonucleotides directed toward the novel cancer target neuropilin.

The patent, titled "Neuropilin antisense oligonucleotide sequences and methods of using same to modulate cell growth," protects a series of antisense molecules that specifically bind to and decrease neuropilin target RNA in cells. The patent also protects the use of these antisense agents in the treatment of various forms of human cancer, including lung, colon, prostate and breast cancers, according to a company news release.

Included in the patent is Lorus' lead neuropilin antisense drug GTI-3611. In preclinical studies, Lorus said GTI-3611 significantly inhibited growth of several cancer types and markedly reduced the number of lung tumors in a mouse model of metastatic human melanoma.

Consistent with an antisense mechanism of action, high levels of neuropilin coding RNA found in cancer cells were substantially decreased following treatment with GTI-3611 as well as with other neuropilin antisense oligonucleotides listed in the patent.

Lorus is a biopharmaceutical company based in Toronto.

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