Isle firm's discovery could lead to cancer cure

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Big Island biotechnology company Aquasearch Inc. said it may have scored a hit in its first foray into anti-cancer research.

Aquasearch, of Kailua-Kona, has produced a chemical compound that showed strong "bioactivity" against three cancers in a screening process at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

That's a long way from developing any potential cures — several years of animal and clinical trials await, and many drugs don't make it through the process. But the results showed enough promise that the institute will conduct its own animal trials on the compound — a rare event, Aquasearch executives said.

"A lot of drugs show activity against cancer during the screening process, but it's not very often that one can excite the NCI into doing their own trials," said Mark Huntley, Aquasearch founder and president.

The institute plans to test the compound for toxicity against mice, and then conduct formal anti-cancer tests on mice with implanted human tumors. If those succeed, Aquasearch plans to patent it and search for a corporate partner for human trials, Huntley said.

The compound is derived from astaxanthin, which is derived from microalgae that itself has no anti-cancer properties. Aquasearch slightly modified the chemical structure of astaxanthin to produce the compound that shows promise against cancer, said Michael Cushman, Aquasearch vice president for research and development.

The institute screened the Aquasearch compound against 60 types of cancer cells. Strong results against only three is actually good, because it indicates the drug probably won't be toxic, Cushman said.

Cushman would not reveal the three types of cancer, but said they are "some of the worst, and definitely need a new treatment."

Aquasearch is one of several Hawai'i companies to make astaxanthin, a microalgae-produced natural compound that is used as a nutritional supplement and a fish-feed additive.

The company plans to use its patented algae growth tanks to grow large colonies of microalgae that produce unique chemical compounds. Such compounds would then undergo testing for use against diseases. Others would be modified to produce new variants, thus creating a large "library" of unique compounds.

Aquasearch has contracted with the University of Hawai'i to gain access to the school's collection of more than 2,000 strains of blue-green algae.

John Duchemin can be reached by phone at 525-8062 or by e-mail, jduchemin@honoluluadvertiser.com.