(Source: Taiwan Today 2014-3-26)
A Taiwan-developed anti-cancer drug was recently greenlighted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for phase one human clinical trials, according to the ROC Ministry of Science and Technology March 25.
MPT0E028, a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor, has shown promising results in treatment of cancer as demonstrated in Taiwan tests involving 60 different human tumor cell lines.
The drug was developed by researchers from National Taiwan University College of Medicine and Taipei Medical University, with funding from the MOST and Formosa Pharmaceuticals under the National Research Program for Biopharmaceuticals.
According to the researchers, MPT0E028 is especially effective in suppressing tumor growth in the treatment of colorectal, hepatic, lung and pancreatic cancers, as well as leukemia and lymphoma, with animal test subjects exhibiting no significant side effects.
The drug is set to assist global efforts in combating cancer by furthering the development of targeted cancer therapies, which have gradually replaced the traditional chemotherapy, the researchers added.
TMU’s Liou Jing-ping, a leader of the research team, said the drug is being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration under the ROC Ministry of Health and Welfare. It is expected that phase one of clinical trials will kick off in Taiwan in the second half of the year, he added.
The first homegrown anti-cancer drug developed by Taiwan’s tertiary institutions to win FDA approval for clinical trials in humans, MPT0E028 holds patents in Taiwan and has approvals pending in 19 countries and territories, including Australia, the EU, New Zealand and Russia.
MPT0E028’s Taiwan test results were published in prestigious international medical journals such as Cell Death and Disease and Clinical Cancer Research, respectively, in late 2013 and earlier this year.
MOHW data shows that cancer is Taiwan’s No. 1 cause of death since 1982, and according to the World Health Organization, the number of people with cancers worldwide is expected to increase 57% over the next two decades.
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