After the recent  successful chemical synthesis of a natural compound that has shown efficacy as a potential chemotherapy for the treatment of liver cancer, Q BioMed and Chemveda Life Sciences have formalized a collaboration to continue the work and to scale-up manufacturing of cGMP product for planned pre-clinical testing and clinical trials.
 
Since February 2017, Q BioMed and Chemveda have been engaged in a joint research program to synthesize uttroside B and several other derivatives. The goal of the program is to study their potential use in clinical trials for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) as well as other cancers. The original compound was isolated and characterized from the leaves of Solanum nigrum Linn, a plant widely used in traditional medicines.
 
In a Scientific Reports study, researchers showed that in animal models, uttroside B was ten times more cytotoxic to the HepG2 liver cancer cell line than sorafenib, the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for liver cancer at the time and the current first line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma. Uttroside B drastically reduced tumors in mice bearing human liver cancer xenografts. In addition, in pre-clinical experiments, uttroside B induced cytotoxicity in all liver cancer cell lines and researchers were able to confirm its biological safety, both by in vitro and in vivo studies. Q BioMed is awaiting confirmatory cell line efficacy data from the synthesized drug product and its derivatives.
 
“Chemveda has been an excellent partner in this program, both in terms of execution and problem solving, and we look forward to the next phase as we advance this promising molecule and others towards the clinic,” said Denis Corin, chief executive officer, Q BioMed.
 
Bheema Paraselli, president and chief executive officer, Chemveda, said, “Since its inception in early 2017 we have been very interested in this research given to the novelty of its clinical end-point & nobility of this approach. What helped us cut through the initial uncertainty and risks surrounding the milestone approach was our stringent due-diligence, attention to detail, and tailored scientific approach. We are very thankful to Q BioMed for being of tremendous help.”