ACTIUM BIOSYSTEMS

Actium Biosystems LLC is engaged in the research and development of cancer treatments combining the expanding knowledge of cancer biology with the rapidly converging fields of nanotechnology, material science, and electromagnetic energy illumination. Through the application of advances in these and other areas, Actium seeks to develop more effective, safer, and less expensive cancer treatments.

The culmination of this work is the development of a new potentially disruptive platform technology; the Actium Cancer Treatment (ACT) System that uses externally generated magnetic energy to heat magnetic nanoparticles embedded in or adjacent to cancer tumors that in combination with radiation, chemotherapy, or immunotherapy produces a therapeutic benefit.

THE TEAM

Actium is organized into six functional groups; Management, Accounting and Administration, Research and Development, Regulatory, Marketing and Reimbursement, and Finance.

To date we have retained twelve employees in these groups. To assist in our business development efforts we have retained expert consultants experienced in medical device and drug development, conducting medical laboratory research, securing FDA approval, and patent law. More information about each of these individuals is available by selecting the pictures above.

Finally, we work with various industry consultants who provide specialized services, including two FDA consultants, a medical device development consultant, and government grant consultant.

FOUNDERS

Actium has a highly experienced management team comprised of individuals who have each built successful businesses. Collectively this group has created over 10 individual successful companies in their careers. They have led complex project development efforts, assembled extensive business relationships, executed research and development efforts, organized and implemented large-scale project development transactions involving hundreds of professionals, created state legislative solutions
to address complex government policy business impediments, and were responsible for successfully raising over $250 million of financing.


Jessie Lai-Sim Au, PharmD, PhD
Distinguished University Professor
Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry

pharmacy.ohio-state.edu

Dr. Bruce F. Mackler, PhD.
Senior FDA Consultant
brucemackler.net

Dr. Edward M. Messing, MD
Professor of Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center
urmc.rochester.edu

Dr. Michael O’Donnell, MD
Professor of Urology, Holden Cancer Center University of Iowa
uihealthcare.org
       
Dr. Craig S. Rosenfeld, MD
Hematology, Oncology
craigrosenfeld.com

Dr. Richard Willson PhD.
Professor of Biochemical Engineering, University of Houston
methodisthealth.com

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Actium has built a state-of-the-art electromagnetics laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The facility has the necessary tools to characterize particles, illuminate particles, and measure their heating response to electromagnetic energy illumination. These tools are computer controlled with the ability to work in the electromagnetic spectrum from 10 kilohertz through the megahertz band up to 10 gigahertz. The lab has the capability to generate electric field strengths from tens of volts per meter to thousands of volts per meter. For magnetic fields the lab has the capability to generate up to 20,000 amps per meter. High-precision vector network analyzers can measure the amplitude and phase of very small signals.

STATE-OF-THE-ART CAPABILITIES

  • Generate and measure illumination frequencies in the kilohertz to gigahertz range.
  • Manufacture prototype devices.
  • Predicting and matching particles to the optimal excitation energy type.
  • Finite Time Domain computer modeling.
  • Testing particles in various field types: electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic.
  • Manufacture nano-materials.

HYPERTHERMIA

Hyperthermia is the gentle heating of tissue below ablation temperatures, typically less than 5° C above normal body temperature. Clinical studies have demonstrated hyperthermia can more than double the efficacy of radiation therapy in select tumors, without an increase in toxicity, and can enhance the efficacy of a number of chemotherapeutic agents for many types of solid tumors.

These reported outcomes are impressive, but they were achieved using the current hyperthermia technology, which has limited application, is expensive, difficult to use, and often has unacceptable side effects.

Click here for more information on Hyperthermia.

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Click here to see the graph

BLADDER CANCER

Bladder Cancer is divided into two general groups depending on if the cancer has penetrated the muscle layer of the bladder. Superficial bladder cancer that has not penetrated the muscle layer is referred to as “non-muscle invasive bladder cancer” or “MNIBC.”

There are approximately 600,000 people in the US diagnosed with bladder cancer with over 73,000 newly diagnosed and 14,000 deaths in 2012. For NMIBC the standard of care treatment is the surgical removal of the tumor through the urethra and depending on the stage, grade, and health of the patient the surgery is followed by intravesical (in the bladder delivered via catheter) immunotherapy (BCG) or chemotherapy. In cases where the patient is at high risk of advancing to muscle invasive cancer the bladder may be removed through an operation called a cystectomy.

Bladder cancer reoccurs up to 60% of the time within two years. When the disease reoccurs, it has to be treated as many as a dozen times over a period that can exceed 15 years. Because of the long survival time and the repeated treatments, bladder cancer has the highest lifetime costs to treat, with some estimates exceeding $174,000 per patient.

ACTIUM’S BLADDER CANCER TREATMENT “ACT”

The Actium Hyperthermia Device is being designed to deliver highly precise heat exclusively to the bladder to enhance the efficacy of mitomycin C (MMC) in treating NMIBC. This device is comprised of four integrated components; the external Magnetic Field Generator, the Delivery Catheter, a Ferrofluid for energy conversion, and the Control System.

In clinical trials conducted in Europe, hyperthermia when added to standard MMC treatment of NMIBC has demonstrated as much as a 38% reduction in tumor recurrence.


Click here to see an illustration of the ACT system
Click here
to watch a video of the ACT system

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SMALL ANIMAL RESEARCH

In early 2012, an Actium Hyperthermia Device designed for small animal research was installed at Duke University under the direction of Dr. Mark Dewhirst to test the ability to heat rat bladders. Numerous successful tests were conducted that selectively heated the rat bladder.

smallanimalmachinethumb.jpg

Click here to see the
small animal treatment machine

PROOF OF CONCEPT:
LARGE ANIMAL DISCOVERY STUDIES

Actium recently performed a number of animal studies using female pigs to verify the performance of our human-scale system.

These studies have clearly demonstrate the ability of the Actium Hyperthermia Device to heat the bladder in a highly controlled fashion to within one tenth of a degree C and hold it at the designated temperature for 60 minutes.

These experiments were successfully repeated in five consecutive pig tests.

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Click here to see the graph

CONTACT US

Actium Biosystems

7007 Winchester Circle , Ste 140

BoulderColorado80301

303.217.7722

info@actiumbio.com

Boulder is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, just 35 miles northwest of Denver. Home of the University of Colorado's main campus and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder sits 5,430 feet above sea level and is surrounded by a greenbelt of city parks and open spaces. Boulder is known for its natural beauty, outdoor recreation, natural product retailers and restaurants, outstanding transportation options, diverse businesses, and technological and academic resources.