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We are happy to report in this monthˇs Newsletter that our Phase I Clinical Trial is approaching an end in Montreal; patients from the last of the six scheduled cohorts are currently receiving treatment with our WBI-1001. We are pleased with the progress and we are excited about the prospects when we receive further preliminary data.
Meantime, we are committed to the further development of another promising drug candidate, WBI-2100, for cancer treatment. As stated in our last message, this proprietary compound showed strong inhibition selectively towards the growth of solid tumours. What exactly are solid cancer tumours?
The word "tumour" refers to an abnormal mass of growing cells, and may be benign or malignant (cancerous). Solid tumours usually do not contain cysts or liquid areas. Solid tumours may be benign (not cancerous), or malignant (cancerous). Solid tumours account for 67% of all malignant cancer types and usually come to mind when someone hears the word cancer. They differ from hematological cancers, such as leukemia, in that they arise in localized tissues other than in blood-related tissues. In addition, the development of solid tumours usually involves a host of diverse genetic changes over time. Thus, many solid tumours are very difficult to treat.
It's forecasted that more than 3 million new cases of solid tumours will be diagnosed across the seven major pharmaceutical markets (including the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) in 2007, obviously representing an enormous market potential. The "big four" tumour typesbreast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancerare all solid tumours and altogether account for nearly 50% of all cancer incidence across the seven major pharmaceutical markets; they will thus remain popular R&D targets. Lower incidence solid tumour types are becoming increasingly attractive to drug developers, because of high levels of unmet need and significant financial rewards for potential treatment options. So far, there is high demand for new cancer treatments with significantly increased efficacy and decreased toxicity. But no major treatment breakthroughs are expected from drug candidates that are currently in late-phase development.
WBI-2100 has properties and working mechanisms that unlike any known approach to treating cancer and to mitigating certain life-threatening side effects of common chemotherapies. We thus believe that WBI-2100 is a promising drug candidate to address this hugely underserved market. We are proceeding with our pre-clinical R & D with WBI-2100.
In this holiday season, everyone at Welichem wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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