20 Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology Anti-cancer Drug Brings New Hope with Academia-industry Collaboration ABCT collaborates with industry to solve real-life problems through innovation technology. Fostering Translational Projects with a New Start-up Company and Partnerships with Shanghai Pharmaceutical Companies In light of public health challenges such as COVID-19, PolyU has demonstrated its inter-disciplinary research capabilities, by providing innovative solutions during the pandemic. As academia-industry collaboration is essential to nurture impactful innovations, cooperations between University and industrial partners foster more translational projects and eventually leads to the development of more new drugs to benefit mankind. In 2021, Co-founders Dr Cong MA and Prof. Xiao YANG (CUHK) established a new start-up company named Ynno Med Limited, a drug R&D company dedicated to addressing the unmet clinical needs of new antimicrobial agents tackling antimicrobial resistance. Dr Ma dedicated effort to designing, developing, and distributing first-in-class antimicrobial medicines that can treat the current antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection, and suppress the generation of new antimicrobial resistance. The company developed antimicrobial pipelines by targeting the protein-protein interactions (PPI) in bacterial transcription. As the essential biological process in bacteria, PPIs in bacterial transcription are highly conserved and completely different to human cells. With the latest Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by PolyU, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited (SPH) and Biopharma Evolution, Dr Ma would continue to explore academia-industry collaborations on biomedicine research projects with Shanghai partners. As cancer cells develop drug resistance, cancer drugs gradually lose their effectiveness. This seemingly inevitable problem is being solved by a cross-disciplinary research team led by Prof. Larry CHOW and Prof. Bill CHAN who have derived a flavonoid dimer from a natural nutrient. This compound can reverse drug resistance through preventing drug efflux thereby boosting successful treatment outcomes and the longevity of existing cancer treatments. Prof. Chow and Prof. Chan’s work is supported by the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, the University-Industry Collaboration Programme. Their invention has been licensed to Kinex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global speciality oncology pharmaceutical company which developed and commercialised the next-generation cancer treatment therapies and piloted a new drug containing this compound in the US. Since then, our researchers have continued to play a significant role in cancer research over the years and have led to the development of new anti-cancer drugs. Lo Ka Chung Centre for Natural Anti-Cancer Drug Development led by Prof. Thomas LEUNG has made an important discovery related to arginine, an essential amino acid for the growth of cancer cells. Our researchers found that deprivation of arginine induces cancer cells to death while leaving normal cells unharmed. The team jointly invented BCT-100, a drug that depletes arginine with a natural human enzyme, with Bio-Cancer Treatment International Limited (BCT) at the laboratory stage. The clinical trials have shown promising results, with BCT-100 proven to work for skin cancer, prostate cancer and liver cancer with limited side effects. The drug does not only prolong the lives of cancer patients but also enhance the quality of life. At the same time, the research team of Prof. Leung worked on another human arginase (PT01 – Pegtomarginase) and it is further developed and exploited by Avalon Polytom and Athenex Inc. for the treatment of patients with advanced malignancies. This second-generation human arginase received U.S. FDA allowance of Investigational New Drug (IND) Application in 2019, and is further granted to enter into clinical trial phase one lately, which is a significant milestone for drug development. With researchers’ innovation and strong execution capabilities, and commitment from industrial partners, the team is planning to commercialise novel technologies for the treatment of a wide range of cancers. Our Research Collaborations with Industry
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