MARC BETULINOL DRUG CANDIDATE SLOWS PROSTATE TUMOR GROWTH

University scientists working under a research program sponsored by Marc Pharmaceuticals recently completed a 17-day study on laboratory animals. The study results showed that one of Marc's water-soluble drug candidates (a Betulinol derivative) slowed prostate tumor growth in mice.

Betulinol is a naturally occurring compound that is isolated from the outer layer of the bark of the white birch tree. Betulinol derivatives are formed by replacing a specific atom or group of atoms within a betulinol molecule.

After more than two weeks, mice treated with the Betulinol derivative had substantially smaller tumors compared to an untreated control group. Further tests on the mice treated with the Betulinol derivative revealed that the remaining tumor tissue had a noticeable absence of cell division. The observation was confirmed in a laboratory test which showed that the prostate tumor cells appeared to have undergone cell-death following treatment with the Marc drug candidate.