Queensland life science company EcoBiotics today announced that, following
very promising results in treating inoperable tumours in horses and dogs, it was fast-
tracking development of the company’s lead cancer drug, EBC-46, into human clinical trials.
EcoBiotics CEO, Dr Victoria Gordon said “This decision marks a very exciting time for our
company. The results from using EBC-46 to treat a range of inoperable tumours in horses and
dogs are just so compelling” she said “and this gives us a great deal of confidence that the
drug will also work effectively and safely in humans”.
EBC-46 is a novel small molecule isolated from a Queensland rainforest plant which works
very rapidly by recruiting the patient’s own immune system to destroy the treated tumours.
“You can almost see the tumours shrink before your eyes – it is absolutely amazing” said
Gordon. “It also has the advantage that it is relatively easy to administer causing minimal
trauma to the patient, and unlike most chemotherapy agents, EBC-46 is safe and to date we
have seen no significant side effects”.
So far, EBC-46 has been used to treat advanced malignant melanomas and sarcomas in dogs, and
sarcoids and nasal squamous cell carcinomas in horses, with further veterinary trials
planned by the company in the coming months.
But, EcoBiotics has much bigger plans and believe the drug has the potential to become the
standard of care for a number of significant human and animal cancers where there is
currently poor prognosis and unmet medical need.
Melbourne dog owner Elton Buchanan saw the effects of EBC-46 first hand. “My Great Dane had
an inoperable tumour in his nose, whenever he got excited he would wheeze and snuffle and
there would often be discharge of blood”. After a single treatment with the drug, the dog
responded rapidly. “A couple of days later, he was like a puppy again, my brother thought I
had given him happy pills”. More than 3 months later, there is no sign of any of the old
symptoms.
EBC-46 was initially discovered and isolated by EcoBiotics from the fruit of a north
Queensland rainforest tree. For commercial use, the drug will be produced from material
grown in plantations on the Atherton Tablelands of far north Queensland, creating a new
industry for that region.
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“Despite lots of talk about the world’s rainforests as a potential source of
new drugs, there have been few successes to date” said Gordon. “But here we are, a small
Australian company based in north Queensland, showing what can be done when you get smart
about discovering new medicines from nature.”
“EBC-46 will be the first drug from the Australian rainforest to enter human clinical
trials, an achievement of which we as a company are immensely proud” says Gordon.
She also says that EcoBiotics won’t be resting on its laurels. “Although EBC-46 is the first
drug to be taken into clinical trials from an Australian rainforest plant, with some of the
results we are seeing in our discovery pipeline for new antibiotics and anti-inflammatories,
we certainly don’t think it will be the last”.
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