MultiCell Technologies Granted U.S. Patent Covering Therapeutics Which Fight Virus Infection And Cancer

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Aug. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- MultiCell Technologies, Inc. (OTC: MCET) has been issued U.S. patent 8,809,290 covering novel drug compositions and platform technologies which redirect the immune system response to protect against highly virulent virus infection and cancer.  These novel drug compositions consisting of noncoding doubled stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules and recombinant immunoglobulin-peptide (IgP) molecules demonstrate unique immune stimulating activity, and the ability to present peptide antigens to immune cells resulting in protective anti-tumoral and anti-viral immunity.

In mouse cancer models, the combination of MCT-465, a dsRNA therapeutic, and MCT-475, an IgP therapeutic, not only induced the animal's immune system to eradicate the engrafted tumor, but upon rechallenge with tumor cells, no new tumors developed indicating the animal had developed protective anti-tumoral immunity.  Tumor rejection and protection against similar and new tumor variants was found to also be associated with specific, overall expansion of cytokine producing cells.  This finding indicates a broadening of the repertoire of anti-tumor immune cells and the development of immune memory in the animal.

Mice immunized with MCT-465 and MCT-475 resulted in the priming of an immune response capable of limiting the replication of virus subsequent to further virus infectious challenge.  During viral infection, specific immune system cells begin to proliferate and differentiate which defines the adaptive immune response to the infection.  In mouse models, administration of MCT-465 and MCT-475 greatly enhanced the generation of interferon gamma (IFNγ) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) producing virus antigen-specific T-cells resulting in significantly reduced virus levels present in the animal.

MultiCell is developing MCT-465 and MCT-475 for the treatment of hepatitis B virus infection and hepatitis C virus infection, and for the treatment of certain cancers. 

Chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C virus infection are recognized as major factors worldwide that increase the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.  According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), chronic hepatitis B virus infection and chronic hepatitis C virus infection account for about 30% to 40% of all reported USA cases of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of primary liver cancer, represents a major unmet medical need.   Hepatocellular carcinoma is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and is the fourth most common cancer in the world.  Over 1 million cases of hepatocellular carcinoma are reported annually worldwide.  Current approaches for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma are of limited efficacy.  According to the NCI, only 16% of patients diagnosed with primary liver cancer survive longer than 5 years.

MultiCell is also developing MCT-485, a very small dsRNA therapeutic, thought to target cancer by delivering a cytotoxic effect to only those cells having the highest tumor initiating capability that are part of the cancerous process such as cancer stem cells and tumor initiating cells.  MCT-485 appears to have no effect on cells not directly involved in the process of relapse, progression and metastasis of cancer.  MCT-485 appears to exert a preferential biological activity on liver cancer cells while showing no effect on normal liver cells.

About MultiCell Technologies, Inc.

MultiCell Technologies, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics and discovery tools for the treatment of primary multiple sclerosis-related fatigue and cancer.  For more information about MultiCell Technologies, please visit http://www.multicelltech.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about MultiCell's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act").  These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "forecast", "could", and "would". MultiCell bases these forward- looking statements on current expectations about future events.  They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement.  Some of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections in the forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, the risk that we might not achieve our anticipated clinical development milestones, receive regulatory approval, or successfully commercialize our products as expected, the market for our products will not grow as expected, and the risk that our products will not achieve expectations.  For additional information about risks and uncertainties MultiCell faces, see documents that MultiCell files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including MultiCell's report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2013, and all of MultiCell's quarterly and other periodic SEC filings.  MultiCell claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements under the Act and assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events. 

SOURCE MultiCell Technologies, Inc.