pSivida in joint venture with Singapore hospital

The first joint venture equity pact struck by Singapore's largest hospital could open a fast track to market for anti-cancer technology from Perth biotech pSivida.

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and pSivida's UK subsidiary pSiMedica have formed a joint venture company to evaluate the use of pSivdia's porous silicon technology, BioSilicon in delivering active agents into cancerous cells. The joint venture, to be incorporated in Singapore as pSiOncology, was publicly announced today at a ceremony attended by Singapore Health Minister Dr Balaji Sadasivan.

The faster regulatory cycle of potential cancer therapies and the substantial pre-clinical and clinical facilities at the SGH could significantly lower time-to-market for the joint venture's products.

It expects to conduct pre-clinical trials through the remainder of this year and move into human clinical trials in the first half of 2003. It is hoping to apply for ethics approval "very early" in 2003, said pSivida investor relations manager Greg Evans.

The cancer therapy for which BioSilicon will be employed is brachytherapy or the short-range treatment of cancer in situ.

The nanostructured porous silicon will be used as a vehicle to deliver radionuclides directly to the site of cancer tumours in the first stage of the trials while chemotherapeutic agents will form the payload in the second stage.

pSivida believes the technology will eventually permit radionuclide and chemotherapy drugs to be delivered simultaneously.

Dr Pierce Chow, director of experimental surgery at SGH predicted the joint venture would open new avenues for dealing with hard-to-fight cancers. It could also reduce the side effects often associated with radio- and chemo-therapies, he said.

Brachytherapy is a rapidly growing clinical market with US sales exceeding $US300 per annum and predicted to hit $US1 billion within five years, according to pSiOncology.

BioSilicon offers a number of advantages over existing nuclear therapy devices for cancer treatment such titanium-sealed brachytherapy seeds. Unlike titanium, the porous silicon is both biocompatible and biodegradable in the body.

pSivida believes BioSilicon is cheaper, boasts a higher load factor and can produce slower release rates than titanium seeds.

The terms of the joint venture are being held in commercial confidence. However it is believed pSiMedica initially has a majority share with increasing amounts of equity earned by SGH as it reaches milestones in the clinical trials.