Glactone Pharma is a new project company within PULS, Sweden´s largest private incubator in life science.  Glactone Pharma develops a new drug against castration-resistant prostate cancer, a stage of the disease when the tumor is unresponsive to therapy with anti-hormonal drugs. This corresponds to approximately 40% of all prostate cancer patients and they lack effective treatment today.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the western world and hundreds of thousands of men are affected each year. Castrate resistant prostate cancer is a more serious stage of the disease when anti-hormonal treatment no longer is effective. A multidisciplinary group consisting of researchers from Lund University, Skåne University Hospital and Cordoba University has studied the natural substance galiellalactone over many years. This substance has proven effective in inhibiting the growth of tumors.  

“Our research has shown that this substance can inhibit a signal making castration-resistant prostate cancer cells divide in an uncontrolled way.  The same signaling mechanism is also active in other types of cancer. The research, that from the beginning was curiosity-driven, is a great example of how Swedish academic research through PULS can be developed, commercialized and made useful for patients and doctors,” says Olov Sterner, professor of organic chemistry at Lund University.

“With Glactone Pharma, PULS starts yet another project company developing a treatment against a disease with a huge unmet medical need.  Glactone Pharma is a long-term project with great potential and with the goal to develop a treatment for severely ill cancer patients,” says Pontus Ottosson, CEO of PULS.

Source: Glactone Pharma