MultiCell Technologies, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has filed additional US and international patent applications covering MCT-485 and its composition of matter, biological targets, mechanism of action, and methods and formulations for therapeutic use.

MCT-485 is a very small noncoding double stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecule which has demonstrated a unique cytotoxic, oncolytic, and immune stimulating activity in in vitro models of hepatocellular carcinoma.  MCT-485 is thought to target cancer by delivering a cytotoxic and oncolytic effect to only those cells having the highest tumour initiating capability that are part of the cancerous process such as cancer stem cells and tumour initiating cells.  MCT-485 appears to have no effect on cells not directly involved in the process of relapse, progression and metastasis of cancer.

MCT-485 has demonstrated in in vitro models the ability to kill transformed liver cancer cells while not harming normal, non-transformed liver cells.  "MCT-485 addresses the need to directly target liver cancer cells and not normal liver cells", said W. Gerald Newmin, chairman and chief executive officer.  MCT-485 is currently being evaluated in animal models of hepatocellular carcinoma.  MultiCell also plans to study MCT-485 in relevant in vitro and animal models for other major cancers.

In contrast to other species of RNAs including siRNAs, MCT-485 appears to induce cancer cell death through a biological process called pyroptosis; a caspase 1-dependent self-destruction cell death that involves pro-inflammatory cytokine production.  Typically, pyroptosis is triggered by various pathological stimuli.  MCT-485 is thought to suppress or modify the amount of mRNA being expressed by various genes linked to the metabolism, proliferation and viability of cancer cells thereby inducing a state of cellular stress within the cancer cell.  MCT-485 appears to exert a preferential biological activity on transformed liver cancer cells while showing no effect on normal, non-transformed liver cells.

Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of primary liver cancer, represents a major unmet medical need.  Hepatocellular carcinoma is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and is the fourth most common cancer in the world.  Over 1 million cases of hepatocellular carcinoma are reported annually worldwide.  Current approaches for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma are of limited efficacy.  According to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), only 16 per cent of patients diagnosed with primary liver cancer survive longer than 5 years.  MCT-485, possessing oncolytic and immune activating properties, could be superior to currently marketed therapies by providing highly targeted killing of liver cancer cells coupled with a more robust activation of immunity and a global and longer lasting anti-tumour effect.  Additionally, due to its unique mechanism of action, MCT-485 could also prove effective in killing other types of cancers.

MultiCell Technologies' MCT-485 is a very small noncoding double stranded RNA (dsRNA) possessing a unique mechanism of action, and is the first of a family of prospective cancer therapeutics.  MultiCell owns rights to several issued US and foreign patents and patent applications related to MCT-485.