Ohio University has partnered with a New York company to further develop a compound that could eventually be used to treat ovarian cancer.
Phosplatin Therapeutics will conduct clinical studies on the new chemotherapy treatment to obtain an investigational new drug application from the Food and Drug Administration. The application will allow the company to begin human testing.
Vice President for Research Rathindra Bose, who led research on the compound, hopes this can be completed within the next 18 months.
We believe the specific strain of compound... really has extra promise
said Phosplatin Therapeutics CEO Robert Fallon. It has much more potency.
Bose, who is also the dean of the Graduate College, said he believes the new compound will be able to kill cancer and stop any growth of cancerous cells.
Potentially we will be able to kill very late stage cancer where there is currently no treatment options Bose said.
Initial research has shown the compound is effective in treating ovarian cancer but may also be able to treat colon, head and neck cancer, said Bose.
Phosplatin Therapeutics will help OU prepare its findings for the FDA by conducting animal tests. To be approved for human clinical studies, the compound must be tested on one rodent and one non-rodent animal. All effects found through these tests, both positive and negative, must be presented to the FDA.
This is quite an undertaking
Bose said.
Bose started studying ovarian cancer treatment 20 years ago, but only began researching at OU in 2008. He estimates the university has spent nearly $200,000 on infrastructure for his research, with the majority of funding coming from outside sources.
If the FDA approves the compound, Bose, OU and Phosplatin Therapeutics will all collect royalty fees from profits of the drug.
Any time we can generate more money for the university it's a good thing
said President Roderick McDavis, who also said it is unknown what percentage of the royalties OU will receive.
In 2010, OU collected $8.2 million in royalties, which came mostly from fees collected on a hormone antagonist drug, McDavis said. The amount collected has grown every year since 2005 when OU collected $2.6 million.
Money collected from royalties is invested back into future research.
This helps prove that OU is one of the top places in the region to conduct research, McDavis said.
We do better than anyone in the state of Ohio
he said.
@ThePostCampus
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Alex Westerh
