Tau Therapeutics Has New Ammunition in War on Cancer

By Mauphen Whitney
TechJournal South

When mathematics did not support an Earth-centric model of the universe, Copernicus took an entirely different look at the situation and revolutionized astronomy. In much the same way, Dr. Lloyd Gray of Tau Therapeutics in Charlottesville took an entirely different look at a group of calcium channels that researchers previously had ignored and discovered the channel that stops cellular proliferation.

According to Tau Therapeutics CEO and Founder Andrew J. Krouse, Dr. Gray’s discovery will help “transform the very nature of how we treat cancer.” Since President Nixon declared a “War on Cancer” in the early 1970s there has not been much progress in how the disease is viewed or managed. Worse, the age-adjusted incidence of death from cancer has not improved by any
statistical significance.

One undeniable feature of cancer is cell proliferation. Most non-surgical cancer treatments deal with cancer’s rampant cell proliferation using chemotherapy or radiation – things that kill. There is a problem with things that kill, however: they may not be discriminating in their lethality. But what if cell proliferation could be stopped at its source without toxicity? That is the question that Tau Therapeutics is answering with its platform of repositioned and novel therapeutics targeting calcium T-channels for the diagnosis, treatment, and healthy maintenance of people with cancer.

“We want to toll the death knell for toxic chemotherapy,” says Krouse. “The days of toxic chemotherapies are numbered… the next frontier in cancer treatment is simply taking a daily
anti-cancer pill that offers people with cancer a longer and better quality of life compared to what is available today. Tau Therapeutics is at the edge of this revolution in health care.”

The Company’s approach of treating cancer through cytostatic chemotherapy is expected to reduce the proliferative rate of cancer to that of healthy tissue. If cytostatic chemotherapy stops tumor growth, a tumor’s erosive power will be disrupted, and a person with cancer will survive. Cytostatic therapy will minimize the damage to normal tissue usually caused from conventional cytotoxic drugs. If cytostatic therapy is successful, cancer treatment and management will become similar to treatment and management of chronic diseases. Tau’s vision is to transform the very nature of how cancer is treated – from toxic chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery to a therapeutic, nontoxic daily regimen.

Krouse founded Tau Therapeutics in August of 2003 and licensed its intellectual property from the University of Virginia two years later. The company’s first major product is its Cytostatic Checkpoint Therapy, a calcium T-channel blocker with broad-spectrum anti-cancer tumor potential. Success of this drug will ensure Tau a cut of
the global cancer market, which is forecasted to grow to approximately $60 billion by 2008.

This drug originally was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration as Posicor, which was used for the management of hypertension. Its safety profile was validated by use in thousands of patients. Tau is repositioning this FDA-approved calcium T-channel blocker as a “Proof of Concept” to validate its patented novel target and to further develop its more potent proprietary drugs.

In its short life, Tau Therapeutics has met many milestones including developing a diagnostic test, patenting three libraries of small molecule compounds, and filing Orphan Drug Applications. Company researchers have identified and filed provisional use patents on three calcium T-channel drugs marketed for other indications. Tau currently is conducting pre-clinical studies on these drugs to ready them for Phase II/III Clinical Trials within the next six months.

Several in vitro studies are completed and in vivo studies will be completed this month. In the third quarter of this year Phase II trials on their main drug will begin on ovarian cancer at the University of Texas’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Tau CEO Krouse believes that all of these achievements eventually will prove that Tau’s approach will revolutionize how we think about
cancer treatment and management – in the same way that Copernicus caused a revolution in the how we think about the universe.

Company at a Glance:
Company profile: Tau Therapeutics
Goal: Targeting cancer.
Website: www.tautherapeutics.com
Number of Employees: 1 full-time.
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Founded: August 2003
Investment: $4 million in government grants, university grants. $130,000 in equity financing and $150,000 in debt equity. Currently seeking a strategic partner prior to a Series A round and/or $600,000 to $2 million in funding for completion of Phase II trial.
Investors: Federal government, University of Virginia Cancer Center, Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology.

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