Biopharmaceutics Inc. announced Friday that it has acquiredfrom Amswiss Scientific Inc. two antisense oligonucleotidestargeting cancer, a peptide displaying anti-tumor activity andthe anti-cancer drug DBD (mitolactol).

Biopharmaceutics (ASE:BPH) purchased the drugs for 4 millionrestricted common shares and 2 million warrants to purchasean additional 2 million restricted shares at $2 per share.Amswiss is a Canadian company developing anti-cancer drugs.Biopharmaceutics of Bellport, N.Y., is primarily an OTC privatelabel company that is now branching off into drugdevelopment.

In addition to the drugs acquired from Amswiss,Biopharmaceutics' subsidiary, Anti-Sense Technologies Ltd.,earlier this month acquired a 50 percent ownership interest inan AIDS drug, KKKI-538, from the Central Research Institutefor Chemistry of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.Biopharmaceutics said the drug, an antisense oligonucleotide,has induced complete, irreversible inhibition of HIV in humancell cultures.

Anti-Sense is paying the institute $100,000 up-front tocomplete evaluation of KKKI-538 research by Feb. 15, 1994,and if Anti-Sense accepts the data, it will pay an additional$4.9 million. The Central Research Institute expects to beginclinicals in Hungary in 12 to 18 months.

With the exception of DBD, the drugs Biopharmaceuticsacquired from Amswiss are in preclinicals. The National CancerInstitute is conducting a Phase III trial of DBD for treatment ofcervical cancer. It was discovered in Hungary in the late 1960sand is currently approved in nine countries.

FDA granted the drug orphan status in 1990. The EuropeanOrganization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) inBrussels, Belgium, is also conducting a clinical study of DBD as aradiosensitizer to improve the ability of radiotherapy to shrinkbrain tumors.

-- Brenda Sandburg News Editor

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