prostate cancer treatment . Dr Rupinder Kanwar and her husband Professor Jagat Kanwar , along with two others , revealed that by piggy backing a chemotherapy drug onto a wellknown milk protein could create a combination that is lethal for cancer cells without the toxic side-effects .
When coupled with the milk protein lactoferrin , the Dox can be delivered directly into the nucleus of prostate cancer cells and will kill the cells as well as drug resistant cancer stem cells , without any side-effects . This has been published in the prestigious international journal , Nature .
According Dr Rupinder Kanwar , a senior research fellow with the Deakin Medical School ’ s Centre for Molecular and Medical Research , doctors had stopped using Dox to treat prostate cancer because of the side-effects . She said , “ Dox is used widely for treating several types of cancers and known for causing toxicity to heart , brain , kidneys and leading to cardiac arrest / heart failure .”
Dr Rupinder points towards the fact that the prostate cancer is one of the few cancers where chemotherapy is not the primary treatment . This is because these particular cancer cells are able to flush out the drug and become resistant to it , while the administered Dox continues to kill off the body ’ s normal cells resulting in a range of side effects , the most damaging of which is heart failure , she says .
Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein found in cow milk and human milk . It is known for its immune boosting and antimicrobial properties making it an important part of the body ’ s protection against infection . It is also added as a key ingredient in baby formula . It is lactoferrin ’ s ability as an iron transporting protein to mop up much needed iron for growth of microbes ( bacteria and parasites ) from the site of infection and its cancer cell killing activities that are exploited by the Deakin scientists to create an anticancer bio-drug that has no sideeffects and improves the immune system .
MITRA BIOTECH RAISES $ 27.4 MILLION IN SERIES B FUNDING
Mitra Biotech , the fast growing biotech company based in Boston , and with a significant research and laboratory presence in Bangalore , has raised $ 27.4 million ( approximately Rs 184 crore ) in a Series B round of financing led by Sequoia India and Sands Capital Ventures .
Other investors such as RA Capital Management and the company ’ s existing investors Accel Partners and Tata Capital Innovations Fund also participated in the round . Sequoia and Sands Capital will get board seats . The latest round also provided an exit to Series A investors KITVEN and India Innovation Fund .
Mitra will use the funds to expand the availability of its CANScript service , which predicts personalized responses to cancer treatments and has demonstrated an extremely high correlation to actual clinical response , the company said .
“ These new funds will allow us to enhance our technology and engage in new studies to further demonstrate CANScript ’ s clinical utility . We will also move forward with our commercial efforts in the United States , as well as emerging and other key markets ,” mentioned Mr Mallikarjun Sundaram , president , cofounder , and chief executive of Mitra in his quote to the media platforms .
Earlier in October 2013 , Tata Capital Innovations Fund along with existing investors India Innovation Fund and Accel Partners , invested about Rs 40 crore in the company . In 2010 , the company had raised funding of Rs 30 crore from Accel , India Innovation Fund and KITVEN , a governmentbacked fund .
VYOME BIOSCIENCES RAISES $ 14 MILLION FRESH FUNDING
Vyome Biosciences , known as a clinical-stage specialty biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines for treating skin diseases caused by resistant microbes has closed $ 14 million Series C financing round . This financing round was led by Perceptive Advisors , a leading New York-based life sciences fund and , Romulus Capital , a Boston-based venture capital firm , along with participation from existing investors including Kalaari Capital , Sabre Partners and Aarin Capital .
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" We are very excited to announce the closure of our Series C financing . The support from leading global and leading life investors and the continued support from our largest existing shareholders validates our Company ' s strategy , science and development programs . The Company will utilize these funds predominantly to advance the clinical development of its lead product , VB 1953 and will allow us to completion of important milestones of clinical results . In addition , the Company will continue to advance the development of other proprietary products pipeline in the preclinical stage ", said Venkateswarlu Nelabhotla ( N . Venkat ), Co-Founder and CEO , Vyome Biosciences .
" Vyome is well positioned as a clinical stage company with a rich pipeline to becoming a leader in antimicrobial resistance and treatment of skin infections with the new funding round . This influx of funding also validates our hypothesis that innovationdriven R & D can attract top global investors ", remarked Dr Shiladitya Sengupta , Co-Founder of Vyome and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School .
According to the American Academy of Dermatology , Acne represents the most common skin disease , affecting 85 % of teenagers and affects 40-50 million people in the US . Approximately 40 % of acne patients are suffering from antibiotic resistance . Physicians around the world have cited a large unmet need for new , improved topical therapy options , vis-à-vis the current available topical products . Vyome ' s VB 1953 targets this potential USD 2 Billion market of antibiotic resistant acne . VB 1953 had its IND ( Investigational New Drug ) application accepted by the US FDA recently , and the company will soon be initiating clinical studies in USA .
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