APHIOS
AWARDED UNITED STATES PATENT FOR COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS
FOR INHIBITING 5-ALPHA REDUCTASE
Woburn,
MA —
July 26, 2010
— Aphios® Corporation today announced that
it was awarded United States Patent No. 7,744,935 B2 for
“Compositions and Methods for Inhibiting 5-a Reductase,”
granted June 29, 2010. This invention is related to compositions
and methods for treating diseases involving the 5-alpha
(a) reductase enzyme.
5-a reductase is responsible for causing benign prostatic
hyperplasia (BPH) and male pattern baldness (alopecia) in
men as well as hirsutism (male-pattern body hair) in women.
An estimated 50% of men above age 50 in the United States
have BPH that causes urinary hesitation and frequent urination
and night time visits to the bathroom. The incidence of
BPH increases to 60% for men over the age of 60, 70% for
men above age 70, 80% or men above age 80 following an Arrhenius-type
plot. BPH has been linked to the incidence of prostate cancer
that is the most prevalent cancer among men; and the second
leading cause of cancer death among men in the US. More
than 500,000 prostate cancer cases are diagnosed each year
in the United States, 1 in 6 American males will develop
prostate cancer and 300,000 die of prostate cancer each
year.
This invention is utilized in Aphios’ Sperol™
product for several conditions including benign prostatic
hyperplasia, prostatic cancer, hirsutism, acne, male pattern
baldness, seborrhea, and other androgen hyperactivity diseases.
The active pharmaceutical ingredient, finasteride, of Merck’s
Proscar® for BPH and Propecia® for male pattern
baldness work by the same mechanism of 5-a reductase inhibition
as Sperol™, which is a natural alternative to these
drugs with fewer side effects.
The source for the active pharmaceutical ingredients in
Sperol™ is the Serenoa repens (Saw Palmetto)
berry. The therapeutic compositions of the invention were
discovered using Aphios’ patented SuperFluids™
CXF drug discovery technologies and manufactured using Aphios’
patented SuperFluids™ CXP drug manufacturing technologies.
These technologies ensure purity, increase extraction efficiency
and overall yield, and are environmentally friendly. These
technologies are also utilized in Aphios’ Zindol®
and product for nausea and vomiting, and Xantol™ for
emotional well-being, relaxed outlook, and positive moods.
Aphios®, the owner
of SuperCoolHealth.com,
is a “green” biotechnology company developing
enabling technology platforms for improved drug discovery
and manufacturing, nanotechnology drug delivery and pathogenic
drug safety. Based on these platforms, we are developing
enhanced therapeutic products for health maintenance, disease
prevention and the treatment of certain cancers, infectious
diseases and Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders.
Research leading to this invention was in part conducted
under a SBIR grant 1R43 AT00321-01 from the National Center
of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), National
Institutes of Health (NIH). The content of this press release
is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not
necessarily represent the official views of NCCAM and NIH.
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