Amrita Centre for Nanoscience and Molecular Medicine, Kochi scientists lead by Prof. Manzoor Koyakutty and Prof. Shantikumar Nair (Centre Director) received two international patents from USA, Europe, Japan and China for a path-breaking invention in cancer-nanomedicine for treating drug-resistant cancers.

Nanomedicines are tiny nanoparticles (one billionth of a meter) loaded with drug molecules to efficiently treat various types of diseases.  This new nanomedicine invented by Amrita team is specifically designed to identify resistant cancer cells and deliver more than one drug’s molecules simultaneously to stop multiple deregulated cancer mechanisms.

“For the last 5 years, in collaboration with Dr. K. Pavithran, Dr. Neeraj Sidharthan, and Dr. Ranvir Prabhu, at the Medical-Oncology department of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), we were investigating key molecular mechanisms responsible for the chemo-resistance of various types of cancers,” said Dr. Manzoor K., who led the nanomedicine research with Dr. Nair. “Based on our understanding, we have designed a novel core-shell nanosystem using human proteins and biodegradable polymers to target cancer cells while causing little harm to other healthy organs,” he further explained.

“This patent is the first of its kind in the field of ‘Cancer-nanomedicine’ patents won by Indian scientists competing at the international level and Amrita is proud to make such a significant lead in in the emerging area of cancer-nanotechnology,” said Dr. Shantikumar Nair, Director of Amrita Center for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine.

“Currently, advanced chemodrugs are unaffordable for the common public because most of the inventions are made in USA or Europe. In contrast, our invention is made completely in India and hence this can be made available to the common man at an affordable cost,” added Dr. Nair.

Presently, Amrita is conducting safety trials in animal models which are mandatory to start human clinical trials. These studies are expected to be completed within next 3-4 years. PhD researchers Dr. Parvathy Chandran, Dr. Archana Ratnakumari and Giridharan Malarvizhi participated in this invention. Other team members- Dr. Anusha Ashokan, Dr. Girish, Dr. Ranjith, Dr. Vijay Harish, Dr. Jeena, Lakshmi G. Kumar, Manju C. Abraham, Jyotsna, are actively involved in various translational aspects of this innovation.

The project was sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

US PATENT:

Title: Core-Shell Particle Formulation for Delivering Multiple Therapeutic Agents
Inventors: Manzoor Koyakutty, Parvathy Chandran , Giridharan L M,  Archana Retnakumary and Shanti Nair, Patent No: USPTO 9,402,918. 2016

EUROPEAN PATENT: No. 09788193.2-1453

JAPAN PATENT: No. JP5662431, China: Zl2009 8.0160922.6

Title: Targeted Nanophotomedicine for the photodynamic therapy of Cancer
Inventors: Manzoor Koyakutty, Shantikumar Nair et al.