Panacea successfully targets, kills leukemia cells

The paper "Radioimmunotherapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Targeting Human Aspartyl (Asparaginyl) β-Hydroxylase” was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting by Panacea Pharmaceuticals on April 3.
The study showed that Panacea's radiolabeled human aspartyl (asparaginyl) B-hydrozylase (HAAH)-specific fully human monoclonal antibody (PAN-622) was able to kill eight acute myeloid leukemia cell lines in vitro. The radiolabeled control antibody did not affect the cancer cells. In addition, the treatment did not affect the normal human leukocytes mixed with the tumor cells. Researchers used short half life a-emittor 213Bi to radiolabel the PAN-622.
“We are very excited to report that our radiolabeled fully human monoclonal antibody to the cancer biomarker HAAH specifically targets and kills leukemia cells," Panacea CEO and Chief Scientific Officer Hossein Ghanbari said. This advance provides evidence for a potential therapeutic application to a devastating cancer and poorly met health care need."
Headquartered in Germany, Panacea Pharmaceuticals is developing biologically targeted cancer treatments. It recently began a Phase I trial for prostate cancer patients using its PAN-301-1 therapeutic cancer vaccine. It also has a variety of projects in progress, including serodiagnosis, immune-imaging and immunotherapy of cancer. It is also working on neuroprotection therapies to help prevent chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment and other conditions.