Wednesday, May 7, 2008

AlphaMed gets $750K grant to fight skin cancer

By Mass High Tech

AlphaMed Inc., a biotech firm based in Acton, reports it has received a $750,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to advance its experimental treatment for deadly skin cancer.

The peer review grant is intended to develop an imaging system that would be needed to show how the firm's melanoma treatment impacts tumors and to determine dose amounts, the company said. The firm's treatment is designed to kill tumor cells with lead-based radioisotopes and has proven effective in animal tests.

About 60,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma and some 8,000 people die from it annually, according to American Cancer Society figures cited by AlphaMed.

Founded in 1997, AlphaMed is focused on the development of drugs for cancer, with its lead product candidate in pre-clinical studies for the treatment of melanoma.

The two-person firm hopes to find development partners and raise $5 million to $10 million in a Series A round of venture capital this year, said Richard Testa, the company's president.