Sunshine Biopharma's $8 Million Private Placement Injects New Funding For Drug Development

Image provided by the National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

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Montreal-based Sunshine Biopharma Inc. SBFM is focused on researching and developing oncology and antiviral drugs as well as science-based nutritional supplements, all with the goal of improving health and medical outcomes for people. 

The oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company made headlines earlier this month with the announcement of its closing of an $8 million private placement. The company says the proceeds will fund its innovative research across anticancer drugs, antiviral drugs and nutritional supplements.

Creating Better Treatment Options for Drug-Resistant Cancers?

Sunshine’s flagship drug candidate is Adva-27a, its patented anticancer treatment meant to help fight multidrug-resistant (MDR) cancer cells. One of the major challenges in treating cancer is the tendency for some cancers to develop resistance to leading cancer therapies.

While chemotherapy drugs like Pfizer Inc.’s PFE IBRANCE and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s BMY Taxol have been some of doctors’ best defenses against cancer, some cancer cells can develop a resistance to these powerful treatments.

These MDR cancers respond less and less to treatment, accounting for a significant number of mortalities among cancer patients. Some cancers, like small-cell lung cancer or pancreatic cancer are even more likely to become drug-resistant, making them some of the most difficult to treat and dangerous cancers humanity faces. 

That’s where Sunshine says its Adva-27a comes in. By inhibiting topoisomerase II, a cell-cycle enzyme playing a key role in DNA replication, the drug candidate is meant to cause tumor DNA damage that kills the cancer cells. 

In preclinical studies, Adva-27a was found to be effective against MDR breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, uterine cancer and pancreatic cancer. The podophyllotoxin-derivative was able to target cancer cells even when they had become resistant to other therapies.

With Phase I clinical trials planned to study Adva-27a as a treatment for pancreatic cancer and MDR breast cancer, the hope is to provide cancer patients with a reliable treatment option for fighting cancer, even when it becomes unresponsive to other treatments.

Strengthening the Body’s Defenses Against COVID-19

Another drug candidate in Sunshine’s pipeline is SBFM-PL4, an nsp3 protease inhibitor that aims to help the body fight COVID-19 by blocking the protease responsible for suppressing the immune system. All variants of the coronavirus include proteases that work to suppress the host’s immune response, giving the virus more time to reproduce and spread without interference from the immune system. 

By developing a compound that can block those proteases, Sunshine hopes to give the person’s immune system a boost, allowing it to kick into gear earlier before the viral infection takes a stronger hold.

While this newer drug candidate is not in trials yet, Sunshine signed a collaboration agreement with the University of Arizona this year to develop additional protease inhibitors and begin taking steps toward clinical studies.

Developing Science-Based Nutritional Supplements

One of the latest products to come from the company is its Essential 9 amino acid supplement. Each tablet contains the recommended daily amount of each of the nine essential amino acids that the human body can’t produce itself and must get through diet. 

Taking a supplement with the nine essential amino acids has been linked to enhanced protein synthesis, improved cardiac and skeletal muscle function, increased immune function, improved physical endurance and weight loss.

So these vegan-certified tablets from Sunshine are meant to support the overall health of anyone from athletes looking to speed up recovery after training to vegans and senior citizens looking to turn to supplements to compensate for possible nutritional gaps caused by restrictive diets or reduced appetite. 

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.