New York NY - Point Roberts WA - January 21, 2014 (Investorideas.com
Newswire) Investorideas.com, a global news source for leading sectors
including biotech and pharma issues an exclusive interview with Dr. Madi
R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Quest PharmaTech Inc.
(
TSX.V: QPT). Dr. Madiyalakan shares insight into the
Company’s
pipeline of oncology products. The Company takes a unique approach to
cancer treatment that capitalizes on the recent major advances in the
understanding of immune physiology and developing proprietary next
generation cancer immunotherapy treatments using select antibodies,
adjuvants and photosensitizers.
Interview:
Q: Investorideas.com
For readers unfamiliar with your company, can you give a brief
introduction on your background in the biotech space and the formation
of Quest PharmaTech?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
I have been involved in the Biotech industry for over 27 years,
first as a scientist at Biomira Inc (now known as Oncothyreon) and then
as a founding executive team member of several biotech
companies
including, AltaRex Corp., CanBiocin Inc. and SonoLight Pharmaceuticals
Corp. My relationship with Quest began when Quest PharmaTech acquired
SonoLight Pharmaceuticals in 2001. That acquisition provided a path
forward for technology I had invented and championed ([Dr. Madiyalakan
holds 10 primary U.S. patents and eight pending patents]). I have been
instrumental in raising more than $200 million through private placement
and public offerings for those companies. I specialize in advancing
novel technologies with great therapeutic potential in areas of unmet
medical need.
Quest was started as a
research and development company in 1998 and was listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in 1999. I have been CEO of the Company since 2006.
Q: Investorideas.com
Can you briefly describe the current product portfolio and the primary oncology focus for each?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Our technology is focused on the immunotherapy of cancer. We
utilize tumor directed monoclonal antibodies to activate the specific
immunity; however we recognize that successful therapy requires
orchestrated combination with chemotherapy, photodynamic therapy and
select additional immune modulators or adjuvants. Our lead product,
Oregovomab, which is currently completing a phase II clinical trial in
both Italy and the U.S., is used in combination with standard
chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients. It is also being tested in
combination with other immunotherapeutic agents for use in treating
pancreatic cancer patients. Our pipeline also includes proprietary
antibodies against other cancer markers, most notably MUC1, PSA and
HER2. We expect to advance our MUC1 targeting antibody into the clinic
in the coming year. MUC1 expressing cancers include many commonly
occurring solid cancers such as breast, pancreatic and lung cancers.
We are also very excited about our new pipeline of therapeutic IgE
antibodies, which we recently acquired from Advanced Immune
Therapeutics, Inc. and for which we obtained license rights from UCLA
and Stanford University. In addition to their immunotherapeutic
potential, these molecules also have the potential to act in the tumor
micro-environment to augment the effectiveness of chemotherapy. We truly
believe that the IgE technology will be a breakthrough for the
treatment of cancer.
Q: Investorideas.com
Can you discuss the current status of your flagship product
OREGOVOMAB and its applications in immune therapy?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Quest's proprietary approach uses antibodies to modulate and
enhance specific immunity to the target tumor antigen and associated
tumor. Recent insights into the ability of cytotoxic therapy to enhance
immunity, and the development of novel adjuvant approaches, suggests
that a simple and artful approach using a combination of components for
specific cancer immunotherapy can change the clinical course of cancer.
We are using our lead product Oregovomab as an example to demonstrate
the proof of concept for the combinatorial immunotherapeutic approach
and trying to identify ideal combinations by conducting three different
clinical trials. The most advanced of these is an 80 patient phase II
clinical trial in advanced ovarian cancer patients that is being
conducted in 13 clinical centers in Italy and the U.S. We hope the
results from this trial will confirm the findings in an earlier study
that shows combining chemotherapy with Oregovomab leads to the
generation of specific anti-cancer T-cells and the potential for
clinical benefits. We are also conducting another clinical trial in the
U.S. using Oregovomab in combination with another chemotherapeutic
agent, Gemcitabine, together with radiation therapy for treating
pancreatic cancer. The trial will help us to expand the market
opportunities for Oregovomab to other CA125 expressing cancers as well
as to evaluate immunotherapy in combination with chemo radiotherapy. We
are also looking at the addition of an immunoadjuvant, Hiltonol, a TLR3
agonist, which we have licensed from a U.S based company, Oncovir, to
further augment the immune response. The completion of these 3 clinical
trials will provide us with the roadmap for commercialization of this
product. To summarize, Quest's approach has created an opportunity to
mobilize immunity, better, more precisely and for less cost than other
methods that are in development, and, or, recently approved.
Q: Investorideas.com
Can you give us some background on the key members of your team and
the scientific board and the expertise they bring to the company?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Working with me on the
management team, I have
Thomas Woo, Vice President of Product Development since 2002. Thomas
honed his drug development skills at Biomira, AltaRex and Cytovax. My
CFO, Pierre Vermette, comes with extensive experience gained at the
Alberta Securities Commission and has been with the Company since 2003.
On the
Board of Directors, I have Lorne Meikle, our
Chairman, Ian McConnan, our Audit Committee Chair and Paul Van Damme,
our Corporate Governance Chair.
Mr. Meikle has an extensive background in the life sciences area,
Mr. McConnan is a former partner of several public accounting firms, and
Mr. Van Damme has acted in the CFO role for a number of public and
private companies.
On the Company's Scientific Advisory Board, I have internationally
known scientists who occupy important positions in various institutions
around the world. Dr. Samuel Abraham, Ph.D., is the Vice President of
Research with the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Professor Ki-Jun Hwang
is a well respected medicinal chemist at Chonbuk University in South
Korea. One of the clinicians, Dr. Ronald Moore, who is developing a
unique treatment for prostate cancer at the Cross Cancer Institute in
Canada, is also one of our scientific advisory board members. Dr. Moore,
along with Dr. Gerald Miller in Australia, provide a strong scientific
direction to our photodynamic therapy program.
On the Company's Clinical Advisory Board (CAB), I have Dr.
Christopher Nicodemus, a clinical expert in tumor immunology and drug
development who has been championing the combinatorial immunotherapeutic
approach supported by numerous publications and patents. He relies on
the advice of his fellow CAB members, key opinion leaders such as
Professor William McGuire in the U.S, Professor Ignace Vergote in
Belgium and Dr. Thomas Ehlen in Canada.
All members of the CAB have a keen interest in innovative
improvements in the area of ovarian cancer and see a great opportunity
to advance the previous learning with Oregovomab in the context of
combination therapies that will better access the immune response and
limit immune suppression that has impeded earlier efforts to vaccinate
against cancer.
Q: Investorideas.com
Can you share with readers the significance of some of your key relationships including Stanford University and UCLA?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Significance of Key Relationships:
We are very pleased to be licensing IgE technologies developed by
the distinguished scientists from these prestigious institutions. In
addition, we are also working closely with the Eppley Cancer Institute
at the University of Nebraska to develop animal models and complete
pre-clinical testing of potential drug candidates.
Q: Investorideas.com
With all biotech companies, funding is a key factor to success;
last November you announced a $1million placement for Quest PharmaTech. C
an you explain the significance of this round of financing and where
this takes you to?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
We wanted to strengthen our relationship with our long term
investment partner, AD Biotech Co., Ltd. AD Biotech has committed $12
Million to fund our ongoing clinical programs during the next two years.
We were pleased with their confidence in Quest as demonstrated by their
investment of $1 Million at a premium
share price.
Q: Investorideas.com
In closing what are some of the key milestones for 2014 for Quest PharmaTech?
A: Madi R. Madiyalakan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Some of the key 2014 milestones we hope to achieve in the coming
year include completing patient enrollment of the Oregovomab clinical
trial and obtaining preliminary data for the Oregovomab clinical trial
in Italy and US; initiating a clinical study combining Oregovomab with
immuno-adjuvants; expanding the Company's opportunities for revenue
generation through product sales of some evidence based over-the-counter
nutraceutical and cosmetic products licensed from our joint venture
partner; generating critical additional data demonstrating the
therapeutic potential of our proprietary IgE portfolio; and, pursuing
out-licensing arrangements as a source of additional revenue and
validation for our technologies.
About Quest PharmaTech Inc.:
Quest PharmaTech Inc. (Quest) is a publicly traded (TSX Venture),
Alberta-based biotechnology company committed to the development and
commercialization of oncology product candidates. It is developing a
series of products for the treatment of cancer based on its pipeline of
SonoLight compounds, and monoclonal antibodies that target certain tumor
antigens that are presented in a variety of cancers. Quest believes
that by combining these antibodies with other cancer therapies such as
chemotherapy or photodynamic therapy, it can potentially further
complement and enhance treatment outcomes compared to antibody treatment
alone.
http://www.questpharmatech.com/
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