Cancer drug by Welwyn Garden City company approved
A GROUND-BREAKING new drug that is set to lead the fight against cancer has been developed by a company based in WGC.
Drug developer Antisoma has announced that a new “aptamer” drug, AS1411, has been granted “orphan” status in both the US and the European Union, for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.
It means the company will have market exclusivity to develop the drug over the next 10 years in Europe, and seven years in the US.
Aptamer drugs are short pieces of DNA or RNA that target particular proteins. AS1411 is a DNA aptamer that targets nucleolin, a protein found on the surface of cancer cells.
“The work that is being done here in WGC is of international importance in the battle against Leukaemia,” said Hertfordshire MEP Richard Howitt, who paid a visit to the company’s laboratories at BioPark in Broadwater Road.
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“The cutting-edge research is benefiting not just the local area but the entire world. European approval means that we can now steam ahead with saving peoples’ lives.”
For more on this story, see this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times, out tomorrow.
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