We're always so amazed by the incredible work done by researchers associated with Colorado State University's Animal Cancer Center. Today in the Coloradoan Newspaper we learned about VDC-597, an oral drug for animals fighting many different types of cancers including sarcoma, lymphoma and solid tumors.

The drug, purchased from San Francisco pharmaceutical company Pathway Therapeutics, blocks cancer cells from multiplying and growing in an animal’s body, VetDC President and CEO Steven Roy said in an interview.

The proteins, renamed VDC-597 when acquired from Pathway, have been evaluated in animal studies and initial human clinical trials and could be a new treatment option for animals suffering from certain cancers. VetDC, a spinoff of Colorado State University, is working with the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s Animal Cancer Center to study how the drug performs in dogs with cancer.

The company, VetDC, describes it here

Targeted Anti-Cancer Drug for Various Tumors 

We are proud to announce the recent acquisition of VDC-597 (formerly PWT33597) from Pathway Therapeutics, Inc.  VDC-597 is an orally available, dual-acting inhibitor of PI3K and mTOR proteins, both of which are implicated in many types of cancers, including sarcoma, lymphoma and solid tumors. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that blocking these proteins can inhibit cancer cell proliferation and cause apoptosis, or cancer cell death.

VDC-597 has excellent selectivity, with negligible activity against other protein kinases. In preclinical cancer models, VDC-597 achieved good distribution into tumors, robust target inhibition and excellent suppression of tumor growth. VDC-597 has promising oral drug properties and a safety profile in dogs that make it a highly attractive drug candidate for use as both a single agent and in combination therapy to treat a number of dog cancers.

Oral administration of VDC-597 has been evaluated in animal studies as well as in a phase I human clinical trial. VDC-597 demonstrated significant blood concentrations and bioactivity in both dogs and people at well-tolerated doses. These results suggest VDC-597 could be an important new therapeutic option for animals suffering from certain cancers, including osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, lymphoma and solid tumors. As development of this drug progresses we intend to expand our study pipeline to include many of these animal cancers.

If anyone learns more about this drug we'd love to hear about it. Thanks.