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Due Diligence Links
Biotherapies, Inc.
Overview | Market Opportunity |
Management Team | Corporate Structure |
Investment
Structure | Address
Biotherapies is a private company dedicated to the commercial development of proprietary therapeutic proteins both as potential cancer treatments and as the basis for novel cancer diagnostics. As its primary objective, the Company is developing Mammastatin, a naturally occurring protein that occurs in the breast tissue of healthy women, as a potential new therapeutic agent for breast cancer. Biotherapies holds the exclusive rights, through licenses from the University of Michigan, to patents pending for the use of Mammastatin as both a therapeutic and a diagnostic.
Based on research conducted by Biotherapies, it appears that Mammastatin protein is responsible for control of abnormal cell growth in breast tissue. Mammastatin can be detected in the blood of healthy women, but is absent in approximately 90% of breast cancer patients – regardless of whether these women have a prior family history of breast cancer. Intravenous injection of Mammastatin into the blood stream of breast cancer patients raises the serum levels of the protein and has demonstrated its ability to arrest or slow the growth of breast cancer. In a compassionate clinical trial approved by the FDA, Biotherapies was able to measure this inhibitory effect of Mammastatin – even in some cases of advanced, aggressive metastatic breast cancer.
Biotherapies is currently selecting a contract manufacturer to produce Mammastatin using recombinant protein technology, which will permit the Company to generate consistent, high volumes of this therapeutic protein both for clinical trials and subsequent commercial use. At the same time, Biotherapies is preparing the preclinical data that needs to be submitted to the FDA as part of an IND (Investigational New Drug) application to start human clinical trials of Mammastatin as a treatment for breast cancer.
In addition to Mammastatin, the founder and chief scientist at Biotherapies has discovered other related proteins that appear to serve similar functions for prostate, colon, lung and ovarian cancers. These proteins will also be developed as potential therapeutics and diagnostics for these life-threatening diseases.
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Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women age 35-54. In the United States, an estimated one in eight women are expected to develop breast cancer in their lifetime. With over 180,000 new cases of breast cancer being diagnosed in the United States each year, there is a substantial market for a safe, non-toxic protein that could be used as a therapy for breast cancer. Breast cancer diagnostics and therapeutics are estimated to represent a $10 billion industry worldwide.
Currently, standard treatments for breast cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Most of these therapies have serious side effects and are generally not effective in treating advanced or recurring cancer. Mammastatin could be a novel addition to the current treatment regimes for this disease, both as a complement to existing therapies and as a stand-alone therapy.
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| Founded in 1995, Biotherapies is a privately held company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Biotherapies retains the rights to develop Mammastatin and related protein families as cancer therapeutics, while licensing the rights to selected diagnostics to the Biomedical Diagnostics joint venture.
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| Genesis Bioventures had an equity interest in Biotherapies Inc. of approximately 25% as of December 2000. Genesis Bioventures initially invested in Biotherapies in 1998 and has continued to increase its investment over the last several years.
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Biotherapies Inc.
5692 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan
USA 48105
Tel: (734) 996-9040
Fax: (734) 996-9024
Web: www.biotherapiesinc.com
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Due Diligence Links
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Dr. Paul R. Ervin Jr., CEO & Chief Scientific Officer