The potential repurposing of this anti-malarial drug might provide a new treatment for cancers, including PCa. Max has posted on two other drugs under development that target the same enzyme family (topoisomerase). (Those two post are linked below.)
Copied immediately below is a press release from UTEP about their role in the discovery and another from the PR Newswire about the related patent issued for the use of the existing drug, pyronaridine, for cancer by the pharma company, Armaceutica.
It now seems the widely disdained use of malaria drugs, such as chloroquines, for cancer might have been unfounded. One of the advantages for the use of pyronaridine for cancer is that its safety has already been proven in multiple Phase 3 clinical malaria trials & drug approvals in locations where malaria is still prevalent. This is also true for most repurposed drugs, making approvals for secondary/off-label use much easier to secure.
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Common Malaria Drug Repurposed to Fight Cancer - UTEP researchers secure patent for pyronaridine, drug that shows promise for killing cancer cells
EL PASO, Texas (March 3, 2025) – Can a drug that’s used to treat malaria be repurposed to fight cancer? Researchers at The University of Texas at El Paso have secured a patent for the anti-malarial drug pyronaridine to do just that. Pyronaridine has been used to treat the mosquito-borne infectious disease for over 30 years.
The discovery is the result of a serendipitous encounter at UTEP.
Renato Aguilera, Ph.D., a UTEP professor of biological sciences, attended a University seminar about the drug in 2017. As a longtime cancer researcher, Aguilera realized that the molecular structure of pyronaridine could be useful in fighting cancer cells.
“Louis Pasteur said ‘Chance favors the prepared mind.’ When I looked closely at the structure of the drug, I saw that it could be used to attack cancer cells,” Aguilera said. “Several year later, the granting of the patent is getting us closer to actually using this drug for patient care.”
Along with then doctoral student Paulina Villanueva, Ph.D., Aguilera conducted extensive lab research to identify how pyronaridine interacts with cancer cells. In 2018, they published a research paper in the journal PLOS One outlining their findings that, in test tubes, the drug slows the replication of cancer and induces “cellular suicide” in leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma, lung, ovarian and breast cancer cells.
Cancer cells multiply much faster than normal cells in the body, Aguilera explained, which leads to the cancer spreading and a worsening prognosis for the patient.
In their research, Aguilera and Villanueva found that pyronaridine interfered with the activity of an enzyme called topoisomerase II, which helps cancer cells replicate, thus slowing the progression of the cancer growth. Along with slowing them down, it also spurred the cancer cells into “programmed cell death,” a process by which cells effectively commit suicide.
Moreover, the drug did not affect normal cells that were not rapidly dividing, leaving healthy cells intact while killing the cancer cells, Aguilera said.
“With pyronaridine, we have the trifecta: slowed growth of cells, programmed cell death, and minimal impact to healthy cells,” Aguilera said. “In the future, this drug could potentially be used in combination with immunotherapy to speed up the process of killing cancer cells.”
Pyronaridine has been successfully tested in some animals, Aguilera said, and a pilot study on terminally ill patients with late-stage breast, lung and liver cancers by pharmaceutical firm Armaceutica showed increased longevity. But Aguilera cautioned that before pyronaridine can be used to treat cancer in the general public, it must undergo clinical trials, a yearslong process that tests drugs to ensure their safety and efficacy in humans.
Villanueva is now a postdoctoral research scholar at the NanoScience Technology Center at the University of Central Florida. During her doctoral program at UTEP, Villanueva conducted much of the research that led to the discovery of pyronaridine as an anti-cancer drug.
"It’s incredible to witness the hard work invested in this research come to fruition,” Villanueva said. “Research opens the door to countless possibilities, and although personalized medicine isn’t one-size-fits-all, the drug pyronaridine could be a breakthrough for some. The journey isn’t over yet — there’s still much to be done — but securing the drug’s patent is a significant milestone that will drive future progress."
The drug was patented this spring in partnership with Armaceutica, which works to develop treatments for cancer. The patent, which is granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, recognizes Aguilera as the inventor and intellectual property owner when it comes to the use of pyronaridine for cancer. Aguilera has served as chief scientific officer of Armaceutica since 2019.
The University of Texas at El Paso, Last Updated on March 03, 2025 at 12:00 AM | Originally published March 03, 2025, by MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications
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US Patent Granted Titled: Bifunctional Compositions for the Treatment of Cancer , News provided by Armaceutica, Inc., Feb 05, 2025, 08:43 ET
EL PASO, Texas, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- US patent granted titled: Bifunctional Compositions for the Treatment of Cancer .1 This drug, which is often used to treat malaria, is being repurposed by Armaceutica, Inc. to treat various types of cancer.
Renato Aguilera, Ph.D. and Biology Professor and cancer researcher at the University of Texas at El Paso, published data demonstrating that the drug (pyronaridine, or PND) kills various types of cancer cells.3
Pyronaridine was shown to preferentially kill certain types of leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma, lung, ovarian, and breast cancer cells while limiting off-target toxicities in normal, healthy cells.3 That is, pyronaridine had reduced effects on non-cancerous cells with a favorable selective cytotoxicity index (SCI), as compared with cancerous cells.3
Dr. Aguilera's studies revealed that pyronaridine inhibits the activity of a critical enzyme (topoisomerase II) required for DNA replication and cancer cell division.4
Studies on mice with metastatic human breast cancer showed the group that received pyronaridine had smaller tumor volumes (P<0.0001) and increased longevity than control mice.4 A study on dogs with cancer showed pyronaridine reduced tumor volumes and increased longevity.1 In one case a lymphoma tumor shrunk by 70%.1 A pilot study on terminally-ill humans with late-stage cancers of the breast, lung and liver; pyronaridine appears to have increased longevity.1
The company's CEO, Ernest Armstrong, said: "Pyronaridine represents a disruptive breakthrough relative to other cancer therapies. Pyronaridine has been proven safe and effective for malaria in at least four phase 3 studies and is an approved drug in parts of Asia and Africa." 2
Patent offices in Australia, Canada, EU, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and the UK have granted patents corresponding to U S Patent No.: 12,201,626.
If you or a loved one has ever been treated with chemotherapy, you'll understand how devastating the side effects can be.
Dr. Aguilera stated: "If the drug were available in the US and approved as an anti-cancer treatment, I would take it in an instant, if I came down with cancer." (emphasis is mine.)
Armaceutica, Inc. is a US-based pharmaceutical company focused on low-toxicity cancer treatments. Armaceutica is seeking a partner to develop pyronaridine into an approved drug for cancer, a process that will take several years.
References: 1US Patent No.: 12,201,626, Jan. 21, 2025. 2Croft et al., Malaria Journal 2012, 11:270. 3 Villanueva PJ, et al., PLOS One, 5 Nov 2018, 13(11):e0206467. 4 Villanueva PJ, et al., Clinical Cancer Drugs 2021, 8:50-56.
Contact: Ernest Armstrong, 389760@email4pr.com , 1-800-965-0255
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Max has posts on two trials with pharma products that use the same enzyme family (topoisomearse) to stop/slow cancer cell division. Those are linked below:
healthunlocked.com/fight-pr...
healthunlocked.com/fight-pr...
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How many other legacy drugs are hiding in wait for similar repurposing?
Stay S & W, Ciao - cujoe
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