NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This month the American Cancer Society announced that for the first time ever, the 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has reached double digits. While this is certainly good news, the increase in the 5-year survival rate was up just 1% to 10%, and there is still an unmet medical need for patients with locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer (LAPC). PharmaCyte Biotech PMCB continues to move toward a planned Phase 2b clinical trial in LAPC to address those patients who no longer see any benefit after being treated for 4-6 months with one of two first-line therapies for the disease.
Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), said, "The entire community of pancreatic cancer researchers, healthcare professionals, volunteers and advocates rallied around our 2020 goal and worked together to accelerate progress against the world's toughest cancer, and we are so grateful for their dedication and diligent efforts."
Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S., but it's the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. In 2020, an estimated 57,600 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and approximately 47,050 Americans are expected to die from the disease this year.
"These new statistics underscore the urgency of continuing to focus research, funding and attention on this disease and its threat to society," Fleshman said.
It is this call to action that has PharmaCyte Biotech excited to get into the clinic to treat patients with LAPC using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box® along with low doses of the anti-cancer drug ifosfamide, to address what is a serious unmet medical need in this patient population.
Currently, patients, who are diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer, are offered one of two first-line chemotherapy treatments. Abraxane plus gemcitabine or a 4-drug combination therapy called FOLFIRINOX. But, once these treatments no longer offer any benefit to patients, sadly, their options for any meaningful effective treatment have run out.
PharmaCyte is hoping to change the current landscape, however, by using its cellular targeted-chemotherapy to make inoperable tumors—operable—as pancreatic cancer is usually only controllable through removal by surgery and only if found before it has spread to other parts of the body and other organs. It is an opportunity to give these patients a second chance on life.
Currently, the company is in the final stages in its efforts to submit an Investigational New Drug application (IND) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Once the IND is submitted, PharmaCyte will hope to obtain permission from the FDA to begin its planned clinical trial.
To learn more about PharmaCyte's pancreatic cancer treatment and how it works inside the body to treat locally advanced inoperable pancreatic cancer, watch the company's documentary video complete with medical animations at: https://www.PharmaCyte.com/Cancer
About PharmaCyte Biotech
PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing cellular therapies for cancer and diabetes based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology known as "Cell-in-a-Box®." This technology will be used as a platform upon which therapies for several types of cancer and diabetes are being developed.
PharmaCyte's therapy for cancer involves encapsulating genetically engineered human cells that convert an inactive chemotherapy drug into its active or "cancer-killing" form. For pancreatic cancer, these encapsulated cells are implanted in the blood supply to the patient's tumor as close as possible to the site of the tumor. Once implanted, a chemotherapy drug that is normally activated in the liver (ifosfamide) is given intravenously at one-third the normal dose. The ifosfamide is carried by the circulatory system to where the encapsulated cells have been implanted. When the ifosfamide flows through pores in the capsules, the live cells inside act as a "bio-artificial liver" and activate the chemotherapy drug at the site of the cancer. This "targeted chemotherapy" has proven effective and safe to use in past clinical trials and results in little to no treatment related side effects.
PharmaCyte's therapy for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes involves encapsulating a human cell line that has been genetically engineered to produce and release insulin in response to the levels of blood sugar in the human body. PharmaCyte is developing the use of genetically modified liver cells and stem cells, as well beta islet cells, to treat diabetes. The encapsulation will be done using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology. Once the encapsulated cells are implanted in a diabetic patient, they will function as a "bio-artificial pancreas" for purposes of insulin production.
About Stock Market Media Group
Stock Market Media Group is a Content Development IR firm offering a platform for corporate stories to unfold in the media with press releases, research reports, corporate videos, radio-style CEO interviews and feature news articles.
This article was written based upon publicly available information. Stock Market Media Group may, from time to time, include our own opinions about the companies, their business, markets and opportunities in our articles. Any opinions we may offer about any of the companies we write about are solely our own and are made in reliance upon our rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and are provided solely for the general opinionated discussion of our readers. Our opinions should not be considered to be complete, precise, accurate, or current investment advice, or construed or interpreted as research. Any investment decisions you may make concerning any of the securities we write about are solely your responsibility based on your own due diligence. Our publications are provided only as an informational aid, and as a starting point for doing additional independent research. We encourage you to invest carefully and read the investor information available at the web site of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at: www.sec.gov, where you can also find all of PMCB's filings and disclosures. We also recommend, as a general rule, that before investing in any securities, you consult with a professional financial planner or advisor, and you should conduct a complete and independent investigation before investing in any security after prudent consideration of all pertinent risks. We are not a registered broker, dealer, analyst, or advisor. We hold no investment licenses and may not sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. Our publications about PMCB are not a recommendation to buy or sell a security.
Stock Market Media Group and its management may benefit from any increase in the share price of the profiled companies and hold the right to sell the shares bought at any given time including shortly after the release of the company's profile. Section 17(b) of the 1933 Securities and Exchange Act requires publishers who distribute information about publicly traded securities for compensation, to disclose who paid them, the amount, and the type of payment. Under the Securities Act of 1933, Section 17(b), Stock Market Media Group discloses that it expects to be remunerated fifteen thousand dollars monthly from September 2019 to September 2020, paid for by a third party via bank wire, to produce content related to PharmaCyte. This article is the opinion of Stock Market Media Group and was written based upon publicly available information and interviews conducted by SMMG.
Stock Market Media Group does not own any shares in PharmaCyte and never accepts compensation in free-trading shares for its marketing services of the company being profiled, however third parties that might have compensated Stock Market Media Group may hold free-trading shares of the company being profiled and could very well be selling, holding or buying shares of the company's stock at the same time the content is being disseminated to potential investors; this should be viewed as a definite conflict of interest and as such, the reader should take this into consideration.
If Stock Market Media Group ever accepts compensation in the form of free trading shares of the company being profiled and decides to sell these shares into the public market at any time before, during, or after the release of the company's profile, our disclaimer will be updated accordingly reflecting the current position of those free trading shares received as compensation for our services.
For more information: www.stockmarketmediagroup.com
Contact:
Stock Market Media Group info@stockmarketmediagroup.com
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
