Techniclone Gets Patent for Tumor Treatment Method

Techniclone International Corp., a Tustin bioengineering firm, said it has received a patent on a method that has potential for detecting and destroying cancerous tumors in humans.

Called tumor necrosis technology (TNT), the procedure allows monoclonal antibodies to penetrate to the interior of harmful tumors and destroy them. Monoclonal antibodies are genetically engineered and can be grown in large commercial volumes.

“One of the major obstacles to treating solid tumors has been an inability to penetrate the interior of a tumor,” said Lon H. Stone, Techniclone’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We have developed a technology that enables us to take the monoclonal antibodies that we manufacture and introduce them into patients as a diagnostic or therapeutic device.”

Stone said the TNT antibodies were designed by scientists at the University of Southern California to attach to dead cells within tumors. They carry a radioactive atom that kills the surrounding malignant cells that are living and multiplying.

Unlike other antibodies that attach only to a limited number of cancerous tumors, the TNT antibodies will link to all kinds of tumors, Stone said.

Tests of the new procedure on animals have been completed at the University of Southern California Norris Cancer Center, Stone said. The company received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July to begin tests on humans.

Stone said because the TNT research initially was funded by Techniclone, the company owns the patent on the technology. He said Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid, has agreed to finance completion of the tests required for FDA marketing approval. Stone said upon successful completion of the tests, which he estimated could take three to four years, Techniclone would manufacture the TNT monoclonal antibodies, which would be marketed by Lederle.