DUBLIN, Ireland - Alltracel Pharmaceuticals has reported positive results from a preliminary clinical study on the use of its micro-dispersed oxidized nitrocellulose (MDOC) formulation in inoperable cancer patients.

Gerry Brandon, CEO of Dublin-based Alltracel, said all 23 patients in the study, carried out in the Czech Republic, displayed tumor reduction following administration of the product in combination with a cytostatic drug. MDOC's mode of action is twofold. The product binds cytostatic cancer drugs and thereby acts as a controlled-release platform. It attacks the tumor's vascular bed by blocking the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to cancerous cells.

According to Brandon, MDOC has embolization activity superior to commonly used compounds such as polyvinyl alcohol or starch powder because it can penetrate the vascular system down to the level of individual capillaries.

Alltracel aims to enlist the help of a large pharmaceutical company in further clinical development of the product, currently known as Alltradex. The company has so far established contact with six firms. “Discussions are under way, but not negotiations,“ said Brandon. Alltracel was established to commercialize the research of a team of Czech scientists. (See BioWorld International, Aug. 20, 1997, p. 3.) - Cormac Sheridan