Viteava Pharmaceuticals has announced the execution of an exclusive worldwide license to an intellectual property portfolio claiming composition of matter and/or methods of use of novel analogs and derivatives of the green tea flavonoid, (-)epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG).
This intellectual property resulted from a long-standing collaboration between Professor Tak-Hang Chan of McGill University and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Professor Q. Ping Dou of Wayne State University and the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
The intellectual property portfolio is owned by McGill University, Wayne State University, the University of South Florida, the Moffitt Cancer Center, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Patents have been issued in the US, Japan and China and are pending in other international jurisdictions.
Viteava Pharmaceuticals founder and CEO Robert Foldes said: "Negotiating and executing this license agreement with multiple leading institutions was an important achievement and critical to advancing several exciting drug candidates discovered in the academic setting."
Viteava Pharmaceuticals will focus on the development of novel approaches to manage cancer and related conditions. It has identified VPE001, a prodrug of EGCG with improved bioavailability and potency, as its lead drug candidate expected to enter clinical development in 2015.
nitial clinical indications may include the treatment of uterine fibroids and/or delaying the progression of cancer in high-risk, early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.
The company's strategy focuses principally on clinical indications where green tea extracts have been demonstrated to elicit biological responses in human studies. Viteava's drug candidates are designed to improve these treatment regimens and achieve better clinical outcomes, while retaining a high level of safety.
By regulating multiple pathways important to the progression of diseases such as cancer, Viteava's drug candidates are expected to provide advantages over more potent and more selective drugs that usually only elicit temporary responses together with a high level of toxicity.