NewBiotics Issued Patent for Double Minute Chromosome Technology

NewBiotics Inc. (San Diego) has been issued United States Patent 6,033,849 for a method for isolating double minute (DM) chromosomes, developed jointly by NewBiotics and The Salk Institute (La Jolla, CA). According to the company, DM chromosomes occur in 30% of human tumors and, at least in vitro, have been shown to carry genes that confer resistance to chemotherapy drugs. Geoffrey Wahl, co-founder of NewBiotics, and his colleagues at The Salk Institute have been able to induce apoptosis in cancer cells by reducing the number of DMs. NewBiotics' DM technology is based on eliminating these cancer-specific genetic structures.

The patent gives NewBiotics rights to several aspects of the DM technology, including methods for isolating DM chromosomes, use of DM-derived probes to discover cancer genes, and the creation of drugs that target DM structures.

NewBiotics will focus its initial anti-DM drug development on lung cancer, which lacks effective treatment at present, and typically has a predominance of DMs.

Founded in late 1997, NewBiotics is developing new therapeutics designed to leverage common drug-resistance mechanisms in cancer and infectious disease. In addition to the DM technology, the company has a second proprietary technology platform, Enzyme Catalyzed Therapeutic Activation technology, which exploits the over-expression of certain enzymes to kill drug-resistant cells.

For more information: Michael Shepard, CSO, NewBiotics Inc., 11760-R Sorrento Valley Rd., San Diego, CA 92121. Tel: 858-259-8600, ext. 222.

Edited by Laura DeFrancesco