SILVER SPRING, Md., Nov. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:PMCB), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted treatments for cancer and diabetes using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box®, announced today that Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, an internationally respected oncologist and a member of PharmaCyte ’s Scientific Advisory Board, has been named Clinical Director of the Leon V. & Marilyn L. Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center, part of the Cancer Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston. Dr. Hidalgo has also been appointed Chief of the hospital’s Division of Hematology-Oncology. In his role at the prestigious medical center, Dr. Hidalgo will oversee all of BIDMC’s clinical cancer programs.
Dr. Hidalgo, whose groundbreaking work in experimental cancer therapy and tumor model development has led to key advances in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, will join the BIDMC this month. He is currently serving as the Director of the Clinical Research Program and Vice Director of Translational Research at the Spanish National Cancer Center. Dr. Hidalgo also holds faculty positions at University CEU San Pablo and Johns Hopkins University.
Kenneth L. Waggoner, the Chief Executive Officer of PharmaCyte Biotech, commented “We would like to offer Dr. Hidalgo our sincerest congratulations on his appointment at such a well-recognized center of excellence as the BIDMC. We are sure that his expertise in treating pancreatic and other solid tumors will be a great addition to the talent already at the Cancer Center of the BIDMC and, most importantly, will help ensure that patients treated at the Cancer Center receive the best and most up-to-date treatments possible for their disease.”
The BIDMC Cancer Center consists of multiple disciplines, including medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology and pathology. Twenty-one specialty patient-care programs focus on pancreatic cancer, bone-marrow transplants, breast cancer, prostate cancer and biologic therapy, among others. The Cancer Center, with 160 faculty members and more than $70 million in annual research support, is also home to the Cancer Clinical Trials Office, where hundreds of clinical trials provide patients with access to promising new therapies. The BIDMC is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
The BIDMC is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding. The BIDMC is also clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center and is a research partner of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and The Jackson Laboratory.
About PharmaCyte Biotech
PharmaCyte Biotech is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing and preparing to commercialize treatments for cancer and diabetes based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation technology known as “Cell-in-a-Box®.” This unique and patented technology will be used as a platform upon which treatments for several types of cancer and diabetes are being developed.
PharmaCyte’s treatment for cancer involves encapsulating genetically modified live cells capable of converting an inactive chemotherapy drug (ifosfamide) into its active or “cancer-killing” form. These encapsulated live cells are placed as close to a cancerous tumor as possible. Once implanted in a patient, ifosfamide is then given intravenously at one-third the normal dose. The ifosfamide is carried by the circulatory system to where the encapsulated cells have been placed. When ifosfamide, which is normally activated in the liver, comes in contact with the encapsulated live cells, activation of the drug takes place at the source of the cancer without any side effects from the chemotherapy. This “targeted chemotherapy” has proven remarkably effective and safe to use in past clinical trials.
In addition to developing a novel treatment for cancer, PharmaCyte is developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 insulin-dependent diabetes. PharmaCyte plans to encapsulate a human cell line that has been genetically engineered to produce, store and secrete insulin at levels in proportion to the levels of blood sugar in the human body. The encapsulation will be done using the Cell-in-a-Box® technology.
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