Genasense

Hi all:

This is a small exerpt from San Diego's Ranch and Coast Mag (July 2006). Has anyone ever heard of this? It is up for fast track FDA approval this summer. Anyone who knows about this, I would love your input....

Every day, over 50 billion cells commit suicide within us. Reed's pioneering research has unraveled the mysteries of both how and why some cells die on schedule and others refuse to die. Those cells that act immortal lead to cancer and other chronic diseases. He came up with an idea in the mid-1990s to develop synthetic DNA to shut off the immortal function of cancerous cells. This technology was purchased by a pharmaceutical company, Genta, formerly based in San Diego (now in New Jersey). Genta then developed the drug Genasense, the first DNA-based cancer drug to pass phase III FDA clinical trials.

Genasense will be up for approval by the FDA and the European Union this summer. If it passes, it has the potential to treat millions afflicted with cancer. From his office at the Burnham campus on the Torrey Pines mesa, Reed optimistically talks about the healing potential of Genasense. It's a late, rainy Friday afternoon. Reed has been just informed by his wife, Muffy - a philanthropist who has chaired Burnham's yearly fundraising gala for the last five years - that one of their three sons, Tyler, 15, has just broken his collarbone playing lacrosse. (Reed's two other sons are Hunter, 17, and Courtland, 12.)

"I'm really excited about the potential of Genasense," says Reed, staying positive despite the bad news. "It's an innovative drug that will convince the cells to die as opposed to murdering the cells through radiation."

It's rare that scientists invent a drug that gets to market. Reed's creation will target a gene that is responsible for causing half of all cancers.

"Genasense has been empirically effective on myeloma and other cancers, such as melanoma, leukemia, lymphoma, and cancers of the lung and colon," says Reed, who also mentions the drug's efficacy on prostate cancer.