About IC-MEDTECH

IC-MedTech, Inc. was formed in 2004 to investigate and nurture one promising new oncology drug strategy. This concept was discovered and partially developed by academic medical researchers in Europe and the U.S. Apatone® is made from two non-toxic compounds that selectively bioconcentrate within cancer cells. A concentration driven intracellular reaction then "switches on" and the resulting oxidative stress weakens and kills cancer cells from the inside.

To appreciate one treatment rationale, it is helpful to first understand the basis for positron emission tomography, an imaging technique now commonly used in modern nuclear medicine. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was first developed in 1975. Radioactive isotopes emit positrons which can be readily detected and imaged. Cancer cells rely heavily on an inefficient energy producing process called glycolysis, literally the rapid digestion of glucose (sugar). Cancer cells accumulate glucose faster than normal cells. This property is exploited by the PET imaging technique. By attaching positron emitting isotopes to glucose and then injecting the mixture into the patient, the traceable isotopes are more rapidly drawn into cancerous cells than healthy cells. Roughly one hour following injection, PET scanning produces a three-dimensional image which identifies where the radioisotopes have concentrated. Hence, PET scans utilize sugar to bioconcentrate radioisotopes within cancer cells so they can be imaged.

This same property can be exploited in a slightly different way for targeting and treating cancer cells. Apatone® substitutes a free radical producing liquid crystal in place of the radioisotope. This liquid crystal compound reacts with sugar in a concentration dependent manner. Only those cells with sufficient sugar concentration flip the switch to form free radicals and are affected. The treatment strategy provides a targeted concentration driven reaction which produces strong, short lived free radicals that stress the targeted cell from within. The reaction proceeds within one to two hours of administration and takes place quickly only within the cancer cells. There are no toxic reaction by-products produced to harm adjacent healthy cells.