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ASX RELEASE
Novogen acquires new technology to add to its oncology drug pipeline
9 October 2013, Sydney Australia: Novogen Limited (ASX:NRT) has acquired a novel drug
technology that will be developed as a potentially major class of cancer drugs known as anti-
tropomyosins (anti-Tms). Anti-Tm drugs will join the Company’s growing pipeline of super-
benzopyran drugs, including Trilexium and related analogs.
The target of anti-Tm drugs is the protein, Tm5NM1, an integral part of the microfilament
component of the cytoskeleton of a cell. Inhibition of Tm5NM1 effectively blocks the ability
of a cancer cell to function and to divide.
The cytoskeleton is so-called because it gives a cell its shape and form, but more relevantly
serves a wide range of functions that actively contribute to the ability of a cell to survive, to
move, and to divide.
Drugs that target the cytoskeleton are highly effective anti-cancer drugs, mainly because
they block the ability of the cytoskeleton to prepare the cell for division. After four decades
they still remain among the most commonly prescribed chemotherapeutics. These include
the taxanes (paclitaxel, docetaxel) and the vinca alkaloids (vincristine, vinblastine). Despite
their common use and relative effectiveness, they bear a number of negative features
including (a) non-specific activity against the cytoskeleton of non-cancer cells resulting in a
range of serious side-effects, (b) limited or no effectiveness against many types of cancer,
and (c) the rapid ability of the cancer cell to develop resistance. The taxanes and vinca
alkaloids are both off-patent.
The taxanes and vinca alkaloids target that part of the cytoskeleton known as microtubules.
There is a second component of the cytoskeleton that, while an obvious anti-cancer drug
target, has to date successfully resisted drug development. That component is the
microfilament, a series of filaments made up of inter-woven strands of two proteins, actin
and tropomyosin. Drugs directed against the microfilaments have been too toxic to consider
using because of the key role of microfilaments in muscle contraction, with muscle cells in
the diaphragm and the heart being adversely affected.
This roadblock has been overcome with two breakthroughs by Australian scientists in recent
years. The first is that tropomyosins are distinguishable as muscle or non-muscle varieties.
The second is that one particular form of non-muscle tropomyosin, known as Tm5NM1, is
restricted largely to cancer cells and is critical to the survival of the cancer cell.
The private Australian biotechnology company, Genscreen Pty Ltd, has developed extensive
intellectual property in the field of drug design targeting the Tm5NM1 protein. Laboratory
and animal studies have confirmed the anti-cancer effect and safety of this drug target.
Novogen has acquired the technology from Genscreen in a transaction based on a royalty
payment of product sales, with no upfront or milestone fees.
"This anti-tropomyosin drug technology perfectly complements Novogen’s super-
benzopyran drug technology in our quest to deliver comprehensive anti-cancer drug
therapy. Our super-benzopyran family of drugs are highly effective against cancer stem cells,
a basic requirement of successful longer term cancer therapy,” said Novogen CEO, Dr
Graham Kelly.
“But we still need to eliminate all cancer cells and that is where the potential potency of an
anti-tropomyosin drug comes in. Rather than relying on a blend of super-benzopyran drugs
and currently available standard therapy to achieve across-the-board eradication of all
cancer cells, the anti-Tm drugs now give us the opportunity to own the full complement of
effective drugs, Kelly added"
Ian Dixon, CEO of Genscreen, said, "we have always seen the anti-Tms as an obvious
replacement for taxanes, one of the largest-selling class of anti-cancer drugs that are now
off patent. But unlike the taxanes, we see the anti-Tms as having so much less toxicity, plus
being more broadly active, including against cancers such as melanoma that taxanes have
little effect against. We are pleased to put the technology into the hands of a Company with
the enthusiasm and expertise to see its potential realised."
Novogen will undertake a program to identify lead compounds, with prostate cancer,
melanoma and neuroblastoma the nominal targets.
About Novogen
Novogen Ltd is a public Australian biotechnology company whose shares trade on both the
Australian Stock Exchange (symbol ‘NRT’) and NASDAQ (symbol ‘NVGN’). The Company is
based in Sydney, Australia, with an office in Ithaca, NY, USA. The Company is focused on the
development of drug strategies that will deliver personalized chemotherapy based on the
effective elimination of cancer stem cells and somatic cancer cells across a range of
genotypes.
Further information
Contact Dr Graham Kelly, Chief Executive Officer.
Tel: 61 2 9476 0344
Fax: 61 2 9476 0388
Mobile: (61) 0429 854 390
16-20 Edgeworth David Ave Hornsby NSW 2077 AUSTRALIA
PO Box 2333 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635 AUSTRALIA
Email: Graham.Kelly@novogen.com
Further information is available on the Company’s web site, www.novogen.com