Protox receives funding from NRC to develop lung cancer drug

tnmynatt · June 7, 2005

TSX-V:PRX

VANCOUVER, June 7 /CNW/ - Protox Therapeutics Inc. announced today that

it has received a financial contribution of up to $340,000 from the National

Research Council ('NRC') Industrial Research Assistance Program ('IRAP'). The

NRC has committed this money to the Company to support its development of

Lung-H1, a therapeutic toxin for the treatment of non small cell lung cancer.The contribution is non-repayable.

"We are pleased to be the recipient of the IRAP funding in support of our

lung cancer program," said Dr. Fahar Merchant, President & CEO of the Company.

"On April 5, 2005 we announced that the Company is moving forward with

licensing negotiations for the Lung H1 technology from the NRC Institute of

Biological Sciences and the University of Victoria Innovation and Development

Corporation. This funding will help to drive the development of this promising

technology".

Protox has established a partnership with the NRC Institute of Biological

Sciences to produce and test cancer therapeutics that have been created by

linking Aerolysin to single chain antibodies that bind to cancer cells. The

first application of this approach is the development of Lung-H1 for the

treatment of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which accounts for

approximately 75% of all lung cancers. Lung cancer remains the most common

malignancy with an estimated 1.04 million new cases and 921,000 deaths each

year worldwide. Patients with NSCLC have poor prognosis and most patients do

not respond satisfactorily to treatment.

ABOUT PROTOX: Protox Therapeutics Inc. is developing novel cancer

therapeutics by engineering the naturally occurring bacterial toxin Aerolysin,

which kills cells by forming pores in them. The Company believes that its

engineering approach will produce targeted cancer therapeutics that have

greater efficacy and fewer side effects than existing cancer treatments.

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