AGENTNOVOBIO is a project led by the University of Malta that is investigating the use of specific extracts from endemic plants for use as blood cancer treatments.
AGENTNOVOBIO which is now nearing the end of its 3-year duration, continued building on previous studies and was successful in isolating a compound from an endemic plant that shows marked differentiating capacity on certain types of blood cancer cells.
Differentiation is a type of therapy that is based on the administration of drug treatments to treat cancer, inducing cancer cells to revert to a healthy (pre-cancerous) state.
MCST funding was essential for the realisation of this project, as it provided the necessary funding for the research to progress to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6, that is a level where the chemical has been tested pre-clinically.
The project involved development of complex separation methods to isolate and identify the bioactive agent from within a crude fraction of plant tissue. During the project, part of the molecular pathways (the mechanisms by which the active agent causes differentiation in the cancer cells) were also mapped out and in vitro tests confirmed the agent to be non-toxic as well as showing promise in combating other cancers successfully. The presence of the bioactive agent in the plant source was tracked both temporally as well as geographically over the 3-year period and the study demonstrates the agent to be always present, indicating that it can be a viable resource extractable from natural plants locally.
AGENTNOVOBIO was led by Prof. Marion Zammit Mangion with the collaboration of Prof. Pierre Schembri Wismayer from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, with the support of researchers Dr Lucienne Vassallo Gatt, Neil Cutajar, David Tovar and Dr Frederick Lia.
Ghajn Rasul Co. Ltd was the industrial partner, also providing all biological material.
Further information may be obtained from Prof. Marion Zammit Mangion via email.
The AGENTNOVOBIO consortium wish to thank the Malta Council for Science and Technology for the support of this project, funded under the R&I Fusion Technology Development Programme.
