VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WPD Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE: WBIO)(FSE: 8SV1) (the “Company” or “WPD”) a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, is excited to announce that it has received the final version of the signed Consortium Agreement related to the EuroNanoMed Project. The consortium will research the potential of AGuIX® nanoparticles in maximizing radiotherapy efficiency and explore two of WPD’s compounds specifically to restore GBM cells' sensitivity to radiotherapy.
The consortium is coordinated by Dr. Muriel Barberi-Heyob from the Research Center for Automatic Control (CRAN), a joint research unit between the University of Lorraine and the French National Scientific Research Center (CNRS) - Institute for Information Sciences and Technologies, and has been successfully funded by EuroNanoMed III "European Innovative Research & Technological Development Projects in Nanomedicine" project – “RXnanoBRAIN Nanoparticles to optimize the effects of radiotherapy of brain tumors: Multi-scale modeling and experimental validation”. Along with WPD’s Dr. Beata Pajak, the consortium includes Oslo University Hospital (Norway) represented by Dr. Kristian Berg, NH TherAguix (France) company represented by Dr. Sandrine Dufort, and Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland) represented by Dr. Martyna Elas.
Over the three-year project timeline, the consortium aims to plan and adapt the X-ray doses given to the patient to maximize radiotherapy efficiency on these high-grade tumors while preserving the adjacent healthy tissue. This project will base its work on pre-clinical experiments at different biological scales (cells, tissues, and in vivo on rodent models) and algorithms' development. An evaluation will then be carried out of the therapeutic potential of an innovative nanoparticle which results from the discovery of NH TherAguix, which is currently in clinical development. Researchers will study the complementarity and effectiveness of the energy of radiotherapy and nanoparticles (NPs) within the tumor tissue. Gaining an in-depth understanding of the effects on the immune response to control and comprehensively enhance the potential of the effects of this treatment also represents a crucial innovative step for the project.
Glioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer and is generally aggressive. The standard treatment consists of surgical removal of the tumor when possible, followed by concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Radiotherapy has an undisputedly positive role to play after surgery and contributes to improving the overall prognosis of these tumors. However, unfortunately, many patients develop a recurrence of local tumors even when treatment is carried out well. Nanomedicine - and nanoparticles in particular - are the source of excellent prospects for development and innovation in radiotherapy.
About WPD Pharmaceuticals
WPD is a biotechnology research and development company with a focus on oncology and virology, namely research and development of medicinal products involving biological compounds and small molecules. WPD has licensed in certain countries 9 novel drug candidates with 4 that are in clinical development stage. These drug candidates were researched at medical institutions, and WPD currently has ongoing collaborations with Wake Forest University and leading hospitals and academic centers in Poland.
WPD has entered into license agreements with Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sublicense agreements with Moleculin Biotech, Inc. and CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., respectively, each of which grant WPD an exclusive, royalty-bearing sublicense to certain technologies of the licensor. Such agreements provide WPD with certain research, development, manufacturing and sales rights, among other things. The sublicense territory from CNS Pharmaceuticals and Moleculin Biotech includes about 29 countries in Europe and Asia, including Russia, depending on the compound.
On Behalf of the Board
‘Mariusz Olejniczak’
Mariusz Olejniczak
CEO, WDP Pharmaceuticals
Contact:
Investor Relations
Email: investors@wpdpharmaceuticals.com
Tel: 604-428-7050
Web: www.wpdpharmaceuticals.com
Cautionary Statements:
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that contemplate activities, events or developments that the Company anticipates will or may occur in the future, including that the consortium, the research that will be conducted over the three-year timeline, and the potential benefits derived from the consortium and the research. . These forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectations based on information currently available to management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those projected. Factors which may prevent the forward looking statement from being realized is that the research may not show the benefits expected; competitors or others may successfully challenge a granted patent and the patent could be rendered void; that we are unable to raise sufficient funding for our research; that we may not meet the requirements to receive the grants awarded; that our drugs don’t provide positive treatment, or if they do, the side effects are damaging; competitors may develop better or cheaper drugs; and we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for any drugs we develop. Readers should refer to the risk disclosure included from time-to-time in the documents the Company files on SEDAR, available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, they should not be relied upon and there can be no assurance that any of them will prove to be accurate. Finally, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update them except as required by applicable law.
