Cangene receives funding from Canadian government to develop acute radiation therapy

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Feb. 10 - Cangene said it will receive C$2 million in funding from Canada's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Research & Technology Initiative (CRTI) for further development of PEG-GM-CSF for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome.

PEG-GM-CSF is a chemically modified version of the company's Leucotropin, a proprietary version of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, which stimulates the production of certain infection-fighting white blood cells that can be depleted by radiation exposure.

An earlier project funded by CRTI indicated that PEG modification of Leucotropin lengthened the duration of GM-CSF activity, which could mean less frequent dosing is required, according to a company news release.

Cangene said radiation overexposure is considered a potential threat to civilian and military personnel in various circumstances such as high levels of X-ray exposure, nuclear plant incidents and terrorist activity.

"This project is exciting for two reasons," president and chief executive officer John Langstaff said in the release.

"We are developing a potential treatment for radiation syndrome and also developing the PEGylation technology that potentially can be extended to making other second-generation protein products."

Leucotropin is the most advanced product in Cangene's recombinant protein product pipeline. It has been submitted for regulatory review in Canada for recovery of white blood cells in patients with Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma following stem cell transplantation.

In addition to radiation exposure, the white blood cells stimulated by GM-CSF can be depleted by drugs used in treating cancer and certain other conditions.

The CRTI is a collaboration of industry, academia and other government departments that researches means of enhancing national security with respect to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, the company said. It is led by Defense Research and Development Canada, an agency of the Department of National Defense.

Cangene is a Winnipeg, Man.-based biotechnology company that uses proprietary manufacturing processes to produce plasma-derived and recombinant therapeutic proteins.

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