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PhytoMedical to Develop New Compound for
Type-2 Diabetes
Type-2 diabetes study results in significantly lowered blood
sugar levels, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol;
Sugar metabolism increased by a factor of 20 in lab tests.
Vancouver,
BC – December 6, 2004 – PhytoMedical
Technologies, Inc. (Symbol: PYTO), an early stage research based
biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery, development
and eventual commercialization of innovative plant derived pharmaceutical
and nutraceutical compounds, today announced its three-way Cooperative
Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the USDA's Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) and Iowa State University.
The CRADA program, authorized under the Federal Technology
Transfer Act of 1986, allows federal laboratories and businesses
to form commercial partnerships that help move new technologies
into the marketplace. PhytoMedical, through its wholly owned
subsidiary, Polyphenol Technologies Corporation, has entered
into the CRADA to, among other objectives, synthesize the active
components found in cinnamon and characterize their beneficial
effects in cell culture systems, animals and ultimately humans.
Over a ten year period, a team of ARS scientists led by Dr.
Richard A. Anderson has isolated and characterized several polyphenolic
compounds from cinnamon bark which increase sugar metabolism
by a factor of 20 in test tube assays using fat cells. Impaired
sugar and fat metabolism, present in millions around the world,
may lead to type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
"These new compounds increase insulin sensitivity by activating
key enzymes that stimulate insulin receptors while inhibiting
the enzymes that deactivate them," states Dr. Anderson,
the lead USDA collaborating scientist.
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas to help the body
use glucose (sugar) for energy. In people with type-2 diabetes,
either the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin or the body is
unable to use it correctly. Without sufficient insulin, glucose
accumulates in the blood and urine and the cells of the body
are starved, a condition known as diabetes - the leading cause
of end-stage renal disease, blindness and lower limb amputations.
Diabetes presently affects over 18.2 million Americans (American
Diabetes Association) and is expected to rise to 30 million by
2030 (Centers for Disease Control). As one of the leading causes
of death and illness worldwide, diabetes costs the American health
care system over $132 billion each year.
Last year,
Dr. Anderson and other research scientists published a study
in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association,
on 60 people with type-2 diabetes who ingested small amounts
of cinnamon daily. The study showed that as little as one gram
a day of cinnamon – one-fourth of a teaspoon twice
a day – can lower blood sugar by an average of 18 to 29
percent, triglycerides (fatty acids in the blood) by 23 to 30
percent, LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol by 7 to 27 percent
and total cholesterol by 12 to 26 percent. Changes in HDL (“good”)
cholesterol were not significant. Amazingly, the study found
that the beneficial effects of cinnamon lasted for at least 20
days after people stopped taking it.
“The potential of this new discovery is incredible,” comments
Mr. Indy Panchi, President and CEO of PhytoMedical Technologies. “Lab
tests in published studies, as well as a small, yet highly successful,
human study show that cinnamon makes insulin more efficient.”
Mr. Panchi
continues, “Rather
than have diabetics swallow raw cinnamon, our goal is to deliver
a more potent synthetic compound that could be easily ingested
as a pill or added to soft drinks or other liquids, with the
end result being lower blood sugar levels through more efficient
use of insulin.”
About PhytoMedical Technologies, Inc.
PhytoMedical Technologies, Inc. (Symbol: PYTO), together with
its wholly owned subsidiaries, is an early stage research based
biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery, development
and eventual commercialization of innovative plant derived pharmaceutical
and nutraceutical compounds targeting cachexia, obesity and diabetes.
An estimated 300 new drugs of world-wide importance, worth
over $150 billion, still remain to be discovered amongst the
250,000 species of higher plants found on earth, of which less
than 15% have been investigated for bioactive compounds. Presently,
twenty of the best selling drugs come from natural sources and
25% of all prescription drugs contain active compounds originally
derived from or patterned after compounds derived from plants.
BDC-03 Successful in Increasing Lean Muscle Mass and Reducing Body Fat Percentage
Named BDC-03, PhytoMedical’s first plant
derived compound has pharmacologically active elements that
have been successful in reducing body fat percentage, increasing
lean muscle mass and lowering cholesterol in studies of growing
animals.
The same
compound, BDC-03, administered over a three month period to
a healthy 45 year old male subject, resulted in a 5% reduction
in body fat and a 15 pound gain in muscle mass, indicating
that the additional weight had been preferentially shifted
toward lean muscle – with no appreciable
change in diet or exercise.
Additionally, the male subject did not experience any alterations
in facial or body hair, exacerbation of acne or alterations in
liver function tests, which are androgenic symptoms commonly
experienced after treatment with anabolic steroids.
For obese
or overweight individuals, BDC-03’s
potential capacity to decrease the deposition of fat and lower
cholesterol is a vitally important therapeutic outcome. However,
its prospective ability to induce overall weight gain in the
form of lean muscle mass may well be the difference between
life and death for individuals suffering from cachexia.
Cachexia, which is characterized by dramatic weight loss, not
only of fatty tissue, but also muscle tissue and bone, is among
the most devastating and life-threatening aspects of AIDS and
cancer. Once the body loses 30% of its lean muscle mass, major
organs are affected, resulting in death.
Sadly, cachexia afflicts 25% of all AIDS patients and upwards
of 90% of all advanced cancer patients. In fact, half of all
cancer related deaths are a result of cachexia, not the cancer
itself.
Polyphenolic Compounds Increase Sugar Metabolism by a Factor
of 20
Diabetes,
which results from the body’s
inability to produce enough insulin or use it efficiently,
affects 18.2 million people in the United States, or 6.3% of
the population (American Diabetes Association). The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention expects this number to rise
to over 30 million by 2030. As the leading cause of end-stage
renal disease, blindness and lower limb amputations, diabetes
now costs the health care system over $132 billion each year.
While the causes of diabetes are not entirely clear, it is
known that diet plays a key role in the prevention and cure of
diabetes. In fact, research studies have shown that aqueous extracts
of the most commonly consumed spice, cinnamon, improves the action
of insulin and helps to control risk factors associated with
diabetes including, glucose, insulin, cholesterol, triglycerides
and related variables.
One study
published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes
Association, showed that as little as one gram a day of cinnamon – one-fourth of a teaspoon twice a day – can
lower blood sugar by an average of 18 to 29 percent, triglycerides
(fatty acids in the blood) by 23 to 30 percent, LDL (or “bad”)
cholesterol by 7 to 27 percent and total cholesterol by 12 to
26 percent. Changes in HDL (“good”) cholesterol were
not significant. Amazingly, the study found that the beneficial
effects of cinnamon lasted for at least 20 days after people
stopped taking it.
Through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, PhytoMedical
is working towards synthesizing the active components found in
cinnamon and characterizing their beneficial health effects in
cell cultures systems, animals and ultimately humans.
For
additional information, please visit www.PhytoMedical.com
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Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as
well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although
the Company believes that the expectations reflected in
the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon
which they are based are reasonable, it can give no assurance
that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have
been correct. The reader is cautioned not to put undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these
statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties,
including but not limited to adverse economic conditions,
intense competition, lack of meaningful research results,
entry of new competitors and products, adverse federal,
state and local government regulation, inadequate capital,
unexpected costs and operating deficits, increases in general
and administrative costs, termination of contracts or agreements,
technological obsolescence of the Company's products, technical
problems with the Company's research and products, price
increases for supplies and components, litigation and administrative
proceedings involving the Company, the possible acquisition
of new businesses or technologies that result in operating
losses or that do not perform as anticipated, unanticipated
losses, the possible fluctuation and volatility of the
Company's operating results, financial condition and stock
price, losses incurred in litigating and settling cases,
dilution in the Company's ownership of its business, adverse
publicity and news coverage, inability to carry out research,
development and commercialization plans, loss or retirement
of key executives and research scientists, changes in interest
rates, inflationary factors, and other specific risks.
In addition, other factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially are discussed in the Company's most
recent Form 10-QSB and Form 10-KSB filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. |
