Arch Biopartners (Arch) has received US patent for its brain tumor cell targeting technology, which protects novel synthetic peptides that target and attach human brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs) and invasive glioma cells (IGCs).
The patent is based on technology invented by Dr. Stephen Robbins, Dr. Donna Senger and Dr. Jennifer Rahn from the University of Calgary.
The company said that the issuance of the patent gives protection for its technology in the worldwide pharmaceutical market.
About 70,000 new patients come up with malignant glioma every year and clinical outcomes for them has not changed over the past 30 years, while average survival rates remain at a dismal 12-15 months and long term survivors are rare, according to the company.
The poor survival rate is connected to BTICs and IGCs which represent disease reservoirs that are not detectable using existing diagnostic methods as they are indiscernible from normal tissue.
As a result, the cells are usually left behind in brain tissue post surgery and often lead to tumor relapse and poor patient outcomes.