Minerva Biotechnologies Corporation's MUC1* Inhibitors Reverse Resistance to Chemotherapy

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Minerva Biotechnologies, a leading cancer and stem cell development company, today announced a major breakthrough in the treatment of cancers. In an article published this month in the Journal of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, “MUC1* is a Determinant of Trastuzumab (Herceptin) Resistance in Breast Cancer Cells” (http://www.springerlink.com/content/r2771113462l3324/?p=72b8c05f803d4232ab4a99efa3fc97c3&pi=5), Minerva researchers reported that tumor cells that had grown resistant to anti-cancer drugs do so by over-expressing a growth factor receptor that they named MUC1*. Researchers reversed the drug resistance by treating the cancer cells with the original drug plus one of Minerva’s proprietary MUC1* inhibitors. The therapeutic effect of several anti-cancer drugs, including Genentech’s blockbuster drug Herceptin, was restored when the drugs were co-administered with a MUC1* antagonist.