FORT PIERCE, Florida (10 Mar 2003) -- Scientists at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution have been keeping their fingers crossed for 20 years that a sponge retrieved from the Caribbean holds a chemical key for cancer patients. The waiting is far from over. Discodermolide, a compound from a sponge discovered in the 1980s by Harbor Branch research director Shirley Pomponi, only recently entered clinical trials on humans. It could be at least five more years, if ever, before a drug is approved. "People complain about how expensive pharmaceuticals are, but they don't realize how amazingly time-consuming the process is," said Amy Wright, head of biomedical marine research at Harbor Branch. "It can take years -- and many, many millions of dollars." Wright will explain the ocean drug discovery process in free lectures at 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Johnson Education Center at Harbor Branch, 5600 U.S. 1 N. She will outline the path from sample collection via diving and deep-sea submersibles to laboratory tests and clinical investigations. She'll also describe recent expeditions in search of new species. Harbor Branch patented discodermolide in 1990 after years of testing showed it had cancer-killing properties similar to Taxol, a drug used to treat ovarian and breast cancer. Harbor Branch sold the rights to Novartis Pharmaceuticals, which will manufacture and market a drug from the compound if it wins federal approval. | | Novartis declined to elaborate on the testing, but Wright said the first phase of clinical trials is to give doses to people who are extremely sick. "They'll be looking for the maximum tolerated dose to make sure there is no acute toxicity and determine what dose is safe," she said. During its early research, Harbor Branch thought discodermolide might be used for organ transplants. "We kept studying it and studying it and realized it was probably too toxic for that," Wright said. "But the anti-cancer properties started to look more and more promising." The sponge used to produce discodermolide is the only one Harbor Branch has discovered that has held enough promise for a pharmaceutical company to invest in. Pomponi recovered it while scuba diving in shallow waters off the Bahamas. When she returned to the site, she couldn't find any more. Wright said Harbor Branch has other compounds it knows are good, but scientists must first figure out how and why they work before they can be shopped around to pharmaceutical labs. SOURCE - The Scientist |
