Cancer, which is caused by faulty genes, kills about 7.5 million people globally each year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Doctors hope for a heavenly replacement for the dreaded chemotherapy
MUMBAI: Cancer, which is caused by faulty genes, kills about 7.5 million people globally each year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
But the good news is, drugs which rectify the faulty genes —- and which can be used to treat breast, skin, prostate, and brain cancers —- would be introduced in India by 2014-15.
About 80-90% of all cancers are caused by faulty genes or deficiency of a particular type of gene, says oncologist V Nair from Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.
“Gene therapy is a multi-pronged approach which might help to a large extent in controlling the disease. 80% of breast and ovarian cancers are due to faulty genes,” says gynaecologist Ranu Patni of Fortis Escorts Hospitals, Jaipur.
Gene therapy works like this: The lack of a gene called MSP36 is believed to cause breast and prostrate cancer.
To correct this, a virus is genetically engineered with the MSP36 gene and introduced in the body of the patient through a drug.
The gene produces a protein, also called MSP36, which stops blood vessels around the cell from being formed.
“This cuts nutrition supply to the cells, which then can’t multiply and die out,” explains Sanjeev Saxena, chairman and CEO of Actis Biologics Pvt Ltd, the biotechnology company that is currently conducting the lab tests for such drugs.
For skin and brain cancers, the virus is infused with a gene called IL21, and introduced in the patient’s body.
This stops random multiplication of the cancer cells, and simultaneously increase the immunity of the cells to produce proteins such as MSP36 that can kill the cancer cells, says Saxena.
“Lab tests are proving our assumptions and we hope the same would happen with the clinical trials also.”
It would take six to seven years for the drugs to hit the Indian market, after going through animal and human trials, according to experts.
The delivery of such gene therapy drugs could be through injections, inhalers or intravenously.
The biggest advantages of such drugs is that they eliminate the dreaded chemotherapy, which has manifold side effects.
Gene therapy treatment comprises just about a week or so of hospitalisation, and about two to three doses of the viral medication.
That would mean lower hospitalisation costs.
Comparatively, chemotherapy is a six-month-long course taken with an interval of 21 days. It also needs to be repeated depending on the stage of the cancer, says Patni.
Gene therapy drugs also eliminate the risks of side effects such as kidney damage and hearing impairment that are the result of platinum-induced chemotherapy.
The potential for gene therapy drugs for oncology —- or cancer treatment —- is tremendous. The worldwide market for skin and brain cancer is estimated to be $2 billion, while that for breast and prostrate cancer is $3-4 billion.
Actis, which is investing approximately $80 million, is planning to manufacture the gene therapy drugs and give their marketing rights to multinationals such as Merck &Co, Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline.
Actis is manufacturing the gene therapy drugs via a patented technology, for which it has exclusive rights from its inventors Sam Lee and Patrick Woo.
Shenzhen SiBiono Genetech Ltd, a Chinese biotech company, had introduced gene therapy-induced cancer drugs called Gendicine in China in 2003. But the treatment is currently available only in that country.
Apart from Actis, another biotechnology company, the Maryland, US-based Virxsys Corporation, is also developing gene therapy drugs for oncology.
Novartis and Genzyme, too, have programmes in the initial stages, but these are not for treatment of cancers.
Will the drug reach where it should and when they should? There is scepticism.
“It would take really long, even after the drugs have been introduced for them to reach the masses,” says Apollo Hospitals’ Nair.
Then the cost of the treatment is not clear year. For example, the Chinese brand Gendicine costs approximately $20,000 for a two-month course.
Actis’ Saxena says it is still too early to put a final figure to that.
g_priyanka@dnaindia.net
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