Site funds study of brain tumor drug
A tiny clinical trial has sparked hope in terminal cancer patients. Researchers found that a generic drug called DCA could slow brain tumors. More trials are needed to prove the drug is safe for cancer patients. But the money for those studies might have to come from Joe Public. Janet Babin reports.
by Janet Babin
Pharmaceutical companies routinely spend more than $1 billion to bring a new drug to market. Drug patents help them recoup their investment — giving them a temporary monopoly.
But DCA is a cheap generic that’s been around for more than 30 years. The patent’s long gone. Companies have no economic incentive to study its potential to fight cancer.
So Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the University of Alberta, set up a website to fund the research through public donations.
“We had people that sent a $10-dollar check and we had people that sent a $3,000 check — from Siberia, New Zealand, Africa, South America, the States,” says Dr. Michelakis.
Dr. Michelakis says donations paid for 90 percent of the study, which cost about $1 million. He’s asking the public to fund a second, larger clinical trial.