The Company's studies in the area of isoflavonoid drugs have provided a substantial body of intellectual property. This part of the Novogen Technology Platform commenced with the discovery that the natural plant isoflavone, genistein, had broad bio-regulating effects including anti-cancer actions, anti-atherosclerotic effects, and anti-inflammatory effects. From this starting point, Novogen synthetic chemists then set about manipulating the genistein molecule to develop synthetic variants (known as analogues or isoflavonoids) that might display even greater biological activity than genistein.
Novogen biological scientists then took this library of synthetic isoflavonoid compounds and tested them for:
- anti-cancer activity;
- anti-inflammatory activity;
- vascular activity.
It was found that many of these synthetic isoflavonoids were active in each of these biological areas at levels substantially greater than the original plant isoflavone, genistein.
The key areas of intellectual property surrounding this part of the Technology Platform are as follows:
- Structure/function relationship: Comparing the biological activity of the different members of the Novogen isoflavonoid library has provided extensive understanding of the relationship between activity and chemical structure. This is highly valuable know-how as it provides important clues to the optimal structure of new drugs for specific diseases;
- Composition and health claims: Novogen has filed international patents covering the chemical structure and particular therapeutic uses of its library of isoflavonoid compounds;
- Synthesis: The method of synthesis of the isoflavonoid compounds is covered by international patent applications;
- Specific drugs: Many of these synthetic chemicals have been identified as potential drug candidates, with nine being selected for immediate attention. These nine are shown in the following table with their respective progress towards registration:
Phenoxodiol, triphendiol and NV-143 have been licenced to Marshall Edwards, Inc.
