Helix BioPharma Corp. contracts KBI Biopharma to develop an L-DOS47 clinical packag...( AURORA ON Jan. 16 / Helix BioPhar...)

AURORA, ON, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX: HBP/Frankfurt: WKN 918846) announced today that it has signed an agreement with KBI Biopharma Inc. ("KBI") to develop a process for preparing L-DOS47 in a lyophilized (freeze-dried powder) vial format suitable for clinical testing.

"This new arrangement advances the Company closer to its objective of initiating clinical testing with L-DOS47," said John Docherty, Helix's president. "The lyophilized packaging format will provide for optimum stability of L-DOS47 while in storage so that individual vials may be reconstituted in liquid form immediately prior to patient administration."

About L-DOS47

L-DOS47 combines Helix's proprietary DOS47 new drug candidate with a highly specific single domain antibody to form a potential new targeted drug product for the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the lung, the most common form of cancer in the world today. L-DOS47 is thought to function by leveraging a natural process in the body called the urea cycle to produce an anti-cancer effect. It is based upon a naturally occurring enzyme called urease that essentially reverses the urea cycle by breaking down urea into metabolites that include ammonia and hydroxyl ions. By doing so at the site of cancerous tissues in the body, L-DOS47 is believed to modify the microenvironmental conditions of lung cancer cells in a manner that leads to their death. Among these theorized effects, L-DOS47 is believed to stimulate an increase in the pH of the microenvironment surrounding the cancerous cells, effectively reversing the acidic extra-cellular conditions that are known to be necessary for cancer cell survival. As well, the local production of ammonia at the site of cancerous tissues is thought to readily diffuse into the cancer cells to exert a potent cytotoxic effect by interfering with their critical metabolic functions. Helix intends to seek approval in 2008 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administr
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