SILVER SPRING, Md., Feb. 27, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nuvilex, Inc. (OTCQB:NVLX), an international biotechnology and clinical stage provider of natural products and cell and gene therapy solutions for the treatment of diseases, announced today that it is focused on positioning its subsidiary, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc., as a leader among entities in the medical marijuana field by virtue of its goal of using Cannabis constituents in the development of treatments for brain and pancreatic cancer.
Many companies in the medical marijuana arena are technology enterprises concerned with growth and distribution of marijuana or the production of numerous products containing marijuana or forms of its extracts. In contrast, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc. is utilizing a number of compounds found in marijuana plants and utilizing them to develop treatments for serious diseases. More specifically, using cannabinoids isolated from Cannabis sativa, Nuvilex's subsidiary will concentrate on the development of treatments for some of the deadliest forms of cancer that have historically shown that they are very difficult to treat with great success. Thus, this effort will initially involve pancreatic cancer and cancers of the brain, particularly glioblastomas.
Nuvilex's COO, Dr. Gerald Crabtree commented "Nuvilex's "in-house" experience in drug development, particularly in the cancer area, coupled with the knowledge gleaned during the development of our pancreatic cancer treatment, serves as a strong foundation upon which Medical Marijuana Sciences can build treatments, using constituents of Cannabis, for deadly forms of cancer. By pursuing "hard targets" like cancers of the pancreas and brain, Medical Marijuana Sciences can position itself to become a leader among entities involved in the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes."
Nuvilex is a true biotechnology company by virtue of the development of a treatment for advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer, through its subsidiary Austrianova Singapore (ASPL), involving the use of its proprietary cell encapsulation technology together with the well-known anticancer drug, ifosfamide. On the foundation of very promising results from two independent clinical trials by ASPL, wherein the pancreatic cancer treatment was found to double both the median survival time of patients as well as their one-year-survival rate, preparations are underway for a "late-phase" clinical study that if successful, will ultimately lead to approval by drug regulatory agencies for marketing of Nuvilex's pancreatic cancer treatment.
Dr. Robert Ryan, President and CEO of Nuvilex stated, "Through building on the experience and expertise obtained during the development of its pancreatic cancer treatment by Austrianova Singapore combined with that gained over many years of involvement by principals within Nuvilex toward the development of drugs and treatments for serious diseases, notably cancer, our new subsidiary, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc. will build on our knowledge and position itself to become a leading biotechnology contributor in the medical marijuana arena. It is our intention that the utilization of these and other natural source compounds will lead to valuable treatments for patients with serious diseases."
About Nuvilex
Nuvilex, Inc. (OTCQB:NVLX) has been a provider of all-natural products for many years. The company has been expanded to increase its natural product-based footprint through medical marijuana studies. We are an international biotechnology provider of live, therapeutically valuable, encapsulated cells and services for research and medicine. New developments by our company and subsidiaries will be substantial as we have been working on many fronts to move us forward. Our company's offerings will ultimately include cancer, diabetes and other treatments using the Company's natural product knowledge, product base, cell and gene therapy expertise, and live-cell encapsulation technology in addition to other new products currently under development.
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