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Drug developed by Advancell for the treatment of a type of leukemia has been granted orphan status by the EU

By 10 de June de 2005November 18th, 2020No Comments
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 10.06.2005

Drug developed by Advancell for the treatment of a type of leukemia has been granted orphan status by the EU

The European Union has granted orphan status to "Acadesine", a drug developed by the biopharmaceutical company Advanced In Vitro Technologies (Advancell), located at the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB, Barcelona Science Park), for the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocyte. With this designation, the EU further strengthens the development of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of serious or rare diseases, as is the case of this type of leukemia, which affects approximately 130,000 individuals in Europe.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a type of cancer caused by an excess of B-cells, one of the lymphocytes of the immune system, in blood. At present, treatments for this kind of leukemia are limited to more advanced stages of the disease as they produce serious adverse side-effects. In addition, a part of the population does not respond well to the drugs currently available. “Acadesine”, as a therapeutic agent, induces B-cell death without exerting a secondary effect associated with a decrease in the population of another type of lymphocyte, T-cells. If the experimental results with “Acadesine” confirm its efficacy in phase II clinical trials, it is anticipated that, given that this drug shows few side-effects, it may serve as a complementary treatment to present-day therapies and may also allow chemotherapy protocols to begin earlier.

The potential use of “Acadesine” in this kind of leukemia was discovered in 2002 by the researchers José Manuel López, Clara Campàs and Joan Gil, all at the Dept. of Physiological Science II at the University of Barcelona (UB), which forms part of the Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL). The later development of the project has been undertaken at the PCB, with a patent application made through the UB Patent Centre and the negotiation of its license to Advancell, also processed through this centre and the Innovation Centre of the Fundació Bosch i Gimpera (Bosch i Gimpera Foundation).

During 2006, in collaboration with the Catalan Institute of Oncology –IDIBELL, Advancell aims to perform phase II clinical trials and to complete the development of the drug so that it can be authorized in about 2010. According to the director of the company, Lluís Ruiz,”the concession of orphan status to “Acadesine” implies recognition of the value of the experimental data available and of the potential social impact of this drug. The European Medicines Agency and Advancell will now collaborate closely to allow the optimum development of the product, in order to ensure that, in the case its efficacy is demonstrated, it reaches patients in the shortest possible time.”