The American pharmaceutical company Nuvectis Pharma has closed all the procedures to create a new drug, the NXP900 pill, capable of stopping various types of cancer. This is a historical milestone in the investigation of this disease that emanates from the work of the Spanish scientist Asier Unciti Brocetadirector of the Institute of Genetics and Cancer laboratory at the University of Edinburgh.
In statements to EFE, this doctor in Medicinal Chemistry born in Algeciras (Cádiz, south) in 1976, explains that this finding is the result of research that began in 2010: “From the beginning, we focused our research on the SRC protein, which is involved in certain types of cancer. Relatively early, we made a drug discovery, for a compound that inhibits this protein,” which led them to patent the finding in 2015.
The investigation led by Unciti was added to those that had been produced until then in the scientific community. “When we discovered an inhibitor, there were already inhibitors on the market that were being used for leukemia, which inhibited other proteins. The difference is that a drug that worked to fight cancer had never been created.”
His finding has meant, in fact, a paradigm shift in the conclusions that cancer research had adopted worldwide until then: “What we have shown is that the other previous medicines did not do the job of inhibiting this protein. That is why the pharmaceutical industry did not make new drugs. That has caused my pill to arrive so long, because we have gone against the grain, trying to show that what was invented did not work.”
This result has led the Edinburgh research team to carry out preclinical tests on animals in recent years: “It is stopping in many mice tumors such as lung, breast or prostate cancers“.
a very long process
“Four or five years ago, everyone didn’t even think i was right. We’ve turned around the academic world and now the world’s leading experts on this protein are saying that this drug is the one that can finally cure this type of cancer. There has been a paradigm shift. Very little happens in science. It has been hard and an innovative company like Nuvectis has had to come along,” he explains.
Asier Uniciti refers to the pharmaceutical company that has already completed the process of preparing the NXP900 pickup, a definite step in applying your research and a milestone in modern medical history.
For this, it has been necessary to have an investment of more than 30 million dollars. Now, the company is already finalizing the registration of this pill with the United States Food and Drug Administration, as well as the process for the introduction of the compound in capsules.
Unciti details as a curiosity that, despite the complexity of demonstrating the efficacy of the treatment and preclinical tests, one of the most cumbersome issues to finish designing the drug has been the definition of a powdered compound that would allow the solution to be slippery enough as to introduce it in capsules.
Four or five years ago, everyone didn’t even think I was right. We have changed and turned around the academic world
Once the toxicological studies have also been carried out, it is expected that the first clinical studies in human patients can be carried out next summer. The University of Edinburgh Cancer Research Institute is recognized as one of the best in the world. However, the fact that the entire preclinical package has been carried out in the academic field “is very difficult. Normally, this is done by the pharmaceutical industry”, explains the Spanish scientist, who highlights how the company Nuvectis has consulted with him all the steps for the elaboration of the drug.
The new pill also involves less intrusion into the body than that produced by other more aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy. Initially, its function is not to cure cancer, but to stop it, although Unciti explains that “our molecule is so selective that it recognizes the tumor and the immune system and ends up destroying it. It is as if it were helping the immune system.” . The Spanish scientist is “very excited” about the prospects imminent application of his drug, a new step in research that could be a historic moment in the fight against cancer.