The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved a cancer drug which is based on the research efforts of a German scientist. Axel Ullrich, director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, laid the groundwork on which the active substance Sunitinib was based. ThePharmaceutical group Pfizer has now brought the Sunitinib-based product SUTENT® on to the market. 
In order to slow down the growth of tumors, or to stop the growth completely, cancer researchers have been concentrating particulary on so-called growth factors: these are proteins that can encourage cells to increase their number or form certain tissues. One class of protein – the tyrosine kinases – is of particular interest in this area of research. These proteins ensure that certain signals are passed into the cell core and thus setting the cell-division and multiplication of the cell in motion. If the tissue is cancerous, these signal transmissions are frequently disturbed, leading researchers such as Axel Ullrich at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry to look for ways to deliberately influence these processes.
The long path of developing medicines
At the beginning of the 90’s the German scientist recognized that tumors that are denied the supply of oxygen and nutrients do not continue to grow. With this knowledge, the researcher concentrated on finding the growth factors which are responsible for this supply and eventually, he achieved this objective. Ullrich had found out that small tumors, only millimetres across, raise the growth factor VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), which activates the formation of blood vessels within certain cells. In the animal model, Ullrich finally succeeded in uncovering crucial evidence: If the receptor Flk-1/VEGFR2, responsible for the growth factor VEGF, is switched off, no blood vessels are formed around the tumor. If this so-called ‘angiogenesis-inhibiting’ process occurs, the oxygen and nutrient supply for the tumor is cut off, and the growth is halted. Based on these findings, the development of cancer drugs which block the angiongenesis process has begun.
In 1991, together with the New York University, Ullrich founded the biotechnology enterprise SUGEN Inc. in California – at that time the first Biotech spin-off from the Max-Planck company. SUGEN began to develop the chemical agents which block the receptor Flk-1/VEGFR2. Today, the company has been through many changes: at the end of the 90’s it was taken over by the Pharmaceutical company Pharmacia, itself the subject of a 2003 takeover by Pfizer, who are now bringing the active agent Sunitinib on to the market.
Approval in Germany expected this year
SUTENT® is a major progression from Ullrichs first achievements. The substance that has been developed today not only restricts the formation of blood vessels in tumors, but also acts to block illness-related enzymes in the signalling network of the tumor cells. For this reason, the substance is classified as a multi-targeted drug. The medicine first gained certification from the FDA for the treatment of advanced kidneycarcinoma, as well as for gastrointestinal stromal tumors, a rare form of stomach/intestine cancer. Further clinical studies for the treatment of other kinds of cancer have already been completed. Approval and an introduction on the pharmaceutical market in Germany are expected this year. “We’re extremely pleased that our research results have led so quickly to an applicable treatment for cancer”, says Ullrich. This drug is the German researcher’s second contribution to the development of cancer-treating agents. Seven years ago, the drug Herceptin® was brougth on the market. It is used for the treatment of various forms of breast and ovary cancer and was developed on the basis of Ullrich’s work.
Ramin’s Comments:
This is a great news of us in the field of Biotechnlony. Dr. Ulrich was born on October 19, 1943 in Lauban, Germany. If anyone interested, you can see his well accomplished CV:
http://www.biochem.mpg.de/en/rd/ullrich/CV
Dr. Ulrich was one of several scientific leaders in developing the anti-cancer drug Trastuzumab (The trade name: Herceptin) at Genentech located in California.
The key to this discovery as the article explains it well is the fact that when the tumors are denied the supply of oxygen and nutrients, they do not continue to grow. This is the key to how to destroy them. Therefore, Dr. Ulrich research concentrated on finding the growth factors which are responsible for this supply and eventually, he achieved this objective. Congratulation to him and the Germany and mostly the people who indeed will benefit from this discovery.