Lab Disaster May Lead to New Cancer Drug

Reuters ^ | Feb 4, 2007 | Maggie Fox

[anymouse]

As the compound is already patented, her team will probably have to design something slightly different to be able to patent it as a new drug.

Taxol, developed by U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers and manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1993, had annual sales of $1.6 billion at its peak in 2000.

Or they can license the patented drug to let Bristol-Myers Squibb recover their investment and let this breakthrough treatment get throught the FDA much quicker and out to cancer patients years earlier, thus saving many lives that otherwise would be lost waiting for a new non-patented version to be developed and run through the FDA trials.

I'll defer to the scientists on what is best for the patient, but this just sounds like greed getting in the way of good medicine. (Not that I don't suspect that Reuters is spining this to make bigPharm look bad.)

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

ping.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

What works on animal cells doesn't always work on human cells. But it could.

[AntiGuv]

FutureTechPing!

An emergent technologies list covering biomedical research, fusion power, nanotech, AI robotics, and other related fields. FReepmail to join or drop.

[Disambiguator]

There was a movie about a similar scenario.

[GBA]

Interesting. I wonder how many of science's greatest discoveries were "accidents". Assuming it proves to be safe and effective, I hope this gets on a fast track through whatever route they take it and it gets to patients quickly.

[anymouse]

Medical science research ping.

[Kirkwood]

I don't see how it can be patented anyway now that it has been described in print. You can't patent something that is already in the public domain.

[patton]

All of them. Greatest words you can hear in the lab - "WTF????"

[ClearCase_guy]

I believe that Fleming's discovery that led to penicillin was partially an accident.

[rbg81]

I wouldn't get too excited--yet. Curing cancer in mice is not that hard.

[Coldwater Creek]

My husband has stage four internal melanoma. We will try anything!!

[Grut]

Or they can license the patented drug to let Bristol-Myers Squibb recover their investment...

Bristol-Myers Squibb doesn't necessarily have anything to do with this drug. The report rather confusingly mentions Taxol, which BMS makes, but the drug in question here is "a compound called a PPAR-gamma modulator," which is something else.

That said, it's always useful to remember that "may" means "may not" and so far the cure for cancer's been discovered every two months for the last twenty years.

[Publius6961]

Interesting. I wonder how many of science's greatest discoveries were "accidents".

What instantly popped into my mind, was penicillin...

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[spanalot]

WOOHOOO

2nd cure for cancer in a month - wheres my smokes!

[Egon]

"The co-author on my paper said,' Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?' I said 'Oh', and took a closer look."

Classic.

[ErnBatavia]

I hope they progress quickly....I'm a year overdue for a colonoscopy and really don't want to go there....

[omega4412]

I believe that Fleming's discovery that led to penicillin was partially an accident.

The story is that before Fleming's work other researchers saw mold killing bacteria but just thought "Dang! That mold is killing the bacteria I'm trying to grow. Have to start over and be more careful."

[em2vn]

"........they have discovered a new way to attack tumors that have learned how to evade existing drugs."
Does this refer to tumors already in a person or is it talking about the ones formed initially?
How would a tumor develop a resistence to a cancer treatment unless the cancer had been previously exposed to the drug. If that's the case, cancer would have to be a disease that's transmitted from person to person.