Biotechnology company and ViroTarg sign anticancer license agreement.

2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Psiron Ltd signed a worldwide license agreement with ViroTarg Pty Limited, and its major shareholders, The University of Newcastle Research Associates (TUNRA) Ltd and SciCapital Pty Limited.

The license agreement, which will focus Psiron as a leading anticancer biotechnology company, covers the ongoing development of ViroTarg's technology relating to the use of oncolytic viruses (virotherapy) for the treatment of a range of different cancers.

Virotherapy uses oncolytic viruses to specifically target and destroy cancer cells as a consequence of the viral replication process. Virotherapy is viewed as a potentially safe and effective treatment for malignant melanoma, breast and prostate cancers, as well as having possible wider applications to ovarian, colorectal and lymphoidrelated cancers.

The ViroTarg "virotherapy" strategy includes the use of an oncolytic Coxsackievirus, a naturally occurring or "wild type" virus, which is associated with the development of the common cold.

Results of initial ViroTarg studies have been published this year in the journal of Clinical Cancer Research, and the work has received commentary in a recent edition of the prestigious British medical journal Lancet - Oncology.

In return for the intellectual property and patents relating to this project, and subject to Psiron shareholder approval, ViroTarg will receive a combination of cash and scrip from Psiron of $5 million and 22.5 million shares based on agreed milestones over the duration of the project.

Psiron will fund the continuing research and development of the potential anticancer biologicals under Associate Professor Darren Shafren (inventor), Dr. Richard Barry and their team in the School of BioMedical Sciences, The University of Newcastle, who have performed the research to date.