Friday, May 4, 2007

Spain's Biotech Revolution

Continued from Page 5

Answers from the Sea
In the lobby of PharmaMar, a biotechnology company on the outskirts of Madrid, neon fish dart through a coral-filled aquarium. On the walls hang dramatic photos of underwater creatures. These visuals highlight a relatively unexplored terrain in biomedical research: the sea. PharmaMar’s research offers a tantalizing glimpse at this new frontier in medicine.

“Most of the drugs that have been a success in cancer treatment have come from a natural source, but a terrestrial source,” says Carmen Cuevas, director of research and development for ­PharmaMar. “Why not use the sea as a source, if life started in the sea?”

This idea is exactly what spurred the creation of PharmaMar, one of Spain’s oldest biotechnology companies, in 1986. Founder José María Fernández­-Sousa, then a university professor involved in research and development  at a local company focusing on microbiology and antibiotics, met a University of Illinois chemist who was examining marine products. Fernández­-Sousa thought the sea could be a ­potentially perfect source of novel compounds, particularly those with antitumor properties.

Today, PharmaMar researchers organize six or seven expeditions a year at sites around the world, partnering with local research institutions in the host countries. Divers return to the surface with thousands of small samples of representative local marine life, though they’re careful to avoid all endangered species; they have a strong company commitment to preserving the ocean environment. The result of these efforts is a library of frozen marine life under the building. With more than 42,000 samples, it is the largest such private library in the world.

Chunks of samples wait in smaller freezers in the labs at PharmaMar, filling the air with the tang of the sea. A scientist pulls out one dark-brown frozen lump and scans it into the computer: it’s a sponge, and the photograph that appears on screen displays a significantly more attractive sight, with pale waving fronds fanning out. All samples are classified not only by species but also by the exact GPS location of the discovery site, with a visual description of the location and photographs of the species. This can assist divers should they need to return to the site to collect further samples.

After the samples are scanned, small shavings are tested for antitumor properties. But the invertebrates aren’t the only species tested; all the bacteria and fungi colonizing the creatures are cultured and tested as well. Scientists evaluate the potential of tens of thousands of samples each year. When one shows promise in combating tumor growth or killing tumor cells outright, the molecule responsible is isolated and patented, and then chemists develop synthetic versions of it. Those new compounds then begin the same drug-testing path as all other potential cancer drugs.

Today, the company has 250 employees working on all aspects of drug discovery, identification, synthesis, and testing. One compound, Yondelis, which is derived from a tunicate named Ecteinascidia turbinata, is close to receiving approval for treatment of soft-tissue sarcomas. Yondelis is also being studied for the treatment of ovarian, breast, and prostate cancer. Four other compounds are in earlier testing phases. And according to Cuevas, a handful more are promising, though she says it’s too early to be specific.

“If we pass the European authorities and begin marketing the drug, this will be an important moment,” says Cuevas. “It’s important for the company, because it will be the first pharmacological drug that PharmaMar puts out on the market. It’s important for the marine-science community, because it will be the first marine cancer drug on the market. And in general, it will show that this isn’t a crazy idea, as people thought when Dr. Fernández-Sousa started. It will demonstrate that the sea can be an important source for new drugs.