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Selective, Effective and Safer We are advancing the design, development and marketing of novel artemisinin-based endoperoxide therapeutics that will offer more highly selective, effective and safer treatment options for cancer and other serious proliferative and inflammatory disorders.
Targeted Therapeutics Our proprietary technologies are based on novel artemisinin endoperoxide compounds and combination products in which artemisinin endoperoxides are attached to iron-binding molecules and cell receptor-targeting molecules for selective and effective delivery into target disease cells.
Smart Drugs and Trojan Horses Our endoperoxide therapeutics act as "Smart Drugs" and "Trojan Horses" that selectively kill cancer cells and other abnormally proliferating cells, without harming normal cells. These effects have been observed and confirmed repeatedly in preclinical studies. A major advantage of our artemisinin-based therapies over other targeted drugs is that our compounds bring a prodrug (artemisinin) together with its activating mechansim (iron) in one package directly inside the targeted cell. As a prodrug, artemisinin is not activated until it comes into contact with free iron inside the cell. Since cancer cells typically contain higher uncontrolled free iron levels than normal cells, they are more susceptible to the toxic effects of artemisinin. Another advantage of artemisinin-based compounds over other targeted drugs is that artemisinin has been found to affect multiple targets and pathways involved in cancer and inflammation.
Artemisinin Artemisinin is the active ingredient found in the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua L.) whose medicinal value was first discovered more than 2,000 years ago in China where the plant has been used to treat a variety of ailments. However, since scientists first isolated artemisinin in the early the 1970's, artemisinin and its derivatives have been best known and used as potent anti-malarial agents. Artemisinin is a chemical called a sesquiterpene lactone that contains an endoperoxide moiety, or internal double-oxygen bridge, which forms carbon-based free radicals when exposed to unbound ferrous iron. This reaction is selectively toxic to cells with uncontrolled or elevated free iron levels, such as cancer cells and the proliferating cells found in diverse conditions, including psoriasis, hyperplasia, and proliferative eye and kidney diseases.
Artemisinin and its derivatives have been used as anti-malarial agents for more than 20 years by millions of patients worldwide, are well-characterized, and have excellent therapeutic and safety profiles.
Artemisinin is indeed a unique natural product. Despite extensive research and screening of thousands of plants containing sesquiterpene lactones, artemisinin remains the only known natural product to contain a 1,2,4-trioxane ring, and Artemisia annua continues to be the only known natural source.
