Henry Lopez, executive vice president of Riptide Bioscience, has announced the execution of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (NCI CRADA #03045) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH.  The agreement carries a three-year term and is entitled, Evaluation of Riptide Bioscience's Proprietary Peptide RP-182 in Preclinical Studies for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer.  Research under the CRADA is intended to generate data to support an Investigational New Drug filing of this agent with the FDA.

Pancreatic cancer is among the most lethal of all diseases; 90% of patients die within one year of diagnosis.  Even following surgical removal of the primary tumor, long-term survival rates are poor, with tumors recurring in virtually all patients. 

Lopez stated, "We're delighted to finalize this agreement with NCI and believe it is an important affirmation of the strength of Riptide's research program.  Our development team has already been working closely with NCI for several years, and NCI scientists have had an opportunity to test RP-182 in transgenic models of pancreatic tumors, with significant success.  RP-182strongly complements the effectiveness of chemotherapies such as gemcitabine, substantially arresting tumor growth and extending survival."

Lopez continued, "We believe that RP-182 will prove to be complementary to both conventional chemotherapies and emerging immunotherapies.  RP-182 alters the balance of cell populations in the tumor microenvironment so as to become tumor-inhibiting rather than tumor-promoting.  We think this approach has real potential to become the 'third leg' of a therapeutic tripod that currently includes chemotherapy and immunotherapy."

The National Cancer Institute's team on the RP-182 project comes from the Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Oncology Branch, in the Center for Cancer Research, Bethesda, Maryland.  The NCI team is headed by Dr. Udo Rudloff (MD, PhD), a physician scientist with both research and patient-care responsibilities.

Dr. Rudloff stated, "The anti-cancer efficacy of RP-182 in combination with chemotherapy compares favorably to previous treatment modalities which were tested in similar transgenic animal models of pancreatic cancer, and which are currently either in clinical trials or have received regulatory approval for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.  Our expectation and hope is to make such promising therapeutics available to patients afflicted by pancreatic cancer."

Riptide Bioscience, with laboratories in Vallejo, California, maintains an intensive program of research into peptide-based therapeutics.