Source: Morphotek, Inc. and reported by http://www.prnewswire.com/
EXTON, Pa., Nov. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Morphotek®, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with Blaze Bioscience, Inc. of Seattle, WA, a privately held biotechnology company developing Tumor Paint technology. Under the agreement, Morphotek provides to Blaze an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to develop, license, and once approved, commercialize a potential tumor-targeting chlorotoxin derivative linked to a near-infrared diagnostic agent, which may help visualize cancer cells during surgery.
The tumor-targeting chlorotoxin derivative was originally isolated from scorpion venom. The chlorotoxin peptide was identified and pursued experimentally based on its ability to bind and suppress growth of activated epithelial cells. Subsequent studies have found that chlorotoxin peptides and engineered variants may bind and potentially be internalized by malignant cells via the annexin A2 complex. A completed Phase 2 clinical trial of radio-labelled chlorotoxin peptide evaluated overall survival in patients with recurrent glioma.
Read more: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/morphotek-inc-announces-a-license-agreement-with-blaze-bioscience-inc-for-the-development-of-novel-oncology-imaging-technology-300172565.html