CYTIMMUNE SCIENCES

Company Overview

Cytimmune Sciences is a U.S.-based clinical stage nanomedicine company whose primary focus is on the discovery, development and commercialization of multifunctional, tumor-targeted therapies. The company has harnessed the unique properties of gold nanoparticles to develop a pipeline of proprietary drug candidates that bind to potent anticancer agents. These agents have toxicity profiles that prevent or severely limit clinical use. The combinations with gold nanoparticles reduce the toxicity and have led to its patented colloidal gold tumor-targeting nanotechnology.

This Rockville, Md.-based company raised $400,000 from the Maryland Venture Fund, Montgomery County, and an unnamed venture investor to pursue its drug Aurimmune, the drug that pairs a decades-old tumor-fighting agent with gold nanoparticles. Aurimmune is set to go into phase II clinical trial. The cash raised is paying to manufacture Aurimmune at clinical quality levels in quantities sufficient for the clinical trial. Aurimmune is designed to open the way for effective chemotherapy by destroying the blood vessels that surround tumors.

Colloidal gold has been used since the 1930s for temporary relief of joint inflammation from rheumatoid arthritis. Cytimmune observed that animals injected with cytokines exhibited strong toxicological responses, whereas animals receiving injections of cytokines bound to colloidal gold did not. This observation led to the conclusion that colloidal gold may be a universal, clinically safe, commercially sound drug/gene delivery system.

Company's Business Segments

• Products : The IO+ Platform, CYT-6091
• Services : Research and Academics, Customized Software, Support