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Lorus Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products and technologies for the management of cancer. With products in all stages of evaluation, from preclinical through Phase III, and a product approved for use in Mexico, the Company develops therapeutics for the purpose of managing cancer efficaciously and with low-toxicity. Lorus' lead products span three classes of anti-cancer therapies: (1) immunotherapies, based on macrophage-stimulating biologic response modifiers; (2) antisense therapies, based on synthetic segments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), designed to bind to the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) that is responsible for the production of proteins over-expressed in cancer cells; and (3) small-molecule chemotherapies, targeting biochemical pathways that are key to the development of cancer, and are potentially anti-angiogenic, anti-proliferative, and anti-metastatic. Lorus has also developed a tumor suppressor/gene therapy approach and a U-sense technology that have demonstrated preclinical anti-cancer potential. The most advanced candidate in the Company's pipeline, Virulizin®, is an immunotherapy that mobilizes the body's immune system to attack and eliminate cancer cells. Virulizin® is currently sold in Mexico through Mayne Pharma for the treatment of malignant melanoma and is in a Phase III trial for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer, having received Orphan Drug status, special protocol assessment, and Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Lorus is collaborating as well with the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct multiple Phase II clinical trials with its lead antisense drug, GTI-2040, which is in a Phase II clinical trial program for the treatment of cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, lung, various solid tumors, and leukemia. This drug is also in Phase II to treat renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer. Lorus is additionally pursuing the development of a number of small molecule compounds, which are currently undergoing extensive preclinical study.
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