Qualigen, Inc., and Advanced Cancer Therapeutics, LLC (ACT) today announced that Qualigen has licensed certain ACT patents, intellectual property and know-how associated with the antiproliferative activity of G-rich oligonucleotides ACT-GRO-777 (also known as AS1411) and methods of using these to bind to nucleolin, a protein that is present on the surface of tumor cells. AS1411 is a novel aptamer-based anticancer technology and a key component of Qualigen’s anti-nucleolin agent-conjugated nanoparticle drug (AS1411-GNP) that can be used to treat virtually any type of cancer. The AS1411 aptamer has been tested as a drug in over 100 patients and is well tolerated with no evidence of severe side effects, with at least 7 patients having long-lasting clinical responses, where their cancers either disappeared or shrank substantially. Under this License Agreement, Qualigen will obtain the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize ACT-GRO-777/AS1411 and related compounds. In return, ACT will receive potential equity in Qualigen, along with cash payments on the achievement of certain milestones and royalties on future drug sales.
“We are delighted to add ACT-GRO-777/AS1411 to our portfolio of anticancer drug technologies. This is a unique opportunity to continue development of a compound that has already undergone extensive preclinical characterization and shown promise in prior clinical studies. We believe that Qualigen’s new AS1411-GNP formulation will lead to a significant improvement in potency and absorption in humans, enabling the drug to fulfill the promise seen in the earlier studies,” noted Michael S. Poirier, Chairman, CEO and President of Qualigen.
“We are excited to work with Qualigen on the product development of our aptamer-based drug to fight cancer,” said Randall Riggs, Board Member of ACT.
