Colby Pharma wins SBIR grant for anti-prostate cancer drug development

Hirak Basu, Colby’s chief scientific officer and George Wilding, SAB Co-Chairman, in collaboration with University of Wisconsin-Madison’s researchers showed hydrogen peroxide production from enzymatic oxidation of spermine and spermidine in human PCa cells responsible for PCa progression to Advanced hormone refractory metastatic prostate cancer (CRPCa).

The SBIR grant focuses on new chemical entity drugs specifically blocking JunD-AR protein-protein interactions and, thus, blocking hydrogen peroxide production in human PCa tumor cells and inhibiting progression to CRPCa.

Colby chief executive officer David Zarling said the SBIR grant award independently validates UW-Madison’s/Colby’s development of small molecule novel therapeutics inhibiting human PCa tumor cell transcriptional activation in the absence of Androgen.

"With this NCI SBIR award and the recent merger with Othera Pharmaceuticals, Colby is adding to its pipeline of promising NCE cancer drug candidates and products for potential partnering," Zarling added.