PharmaCyte Biotech Inc (OTCMKTS:PMCB) Is Today's Cancer Focus

PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCMKTS:PMCB) is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing and preparing to commercialize treatments for cancer and diabetes based on a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation technology known as Cell-in-a-Box®. The stock closed on Thursday, September 7, 2016, at $0.0375 on 1,503,597 shares where it could be bouncing off the low set back in the middle of January 2016. The stock has traded as high as almost $0.50 a share back in 2014, but has trended lower, in one respect, due to the U.S. government’s stance on cannabis, but that may all be changing.Unfortunately, we have lost such greats such as Steve Jobs, Patrick Swayze, Jack Benny, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Crawford, Michael Landon and Henry Mancini all to pancreatic cancer, but the list will continue until we can create effective treatments. PharmaCyte has developed a unique and patented technology will be used as a platform upon which treatments for several types of cancer, including advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer.The Company’s treatment for pancreatic cancer involves low doses of the well-known anticancer prodrug ifosfamide, which when coupled together with encapsulated live cells, convert ifosfamide into its active or "cancer-killing" form. These capsules are placed as close to the cancerous tumor as possible to enable the delivery of the highest levels of the cancer-killing drug at its source. This "targeted chemotherapy" has proven remarkably effective in past clinical trials.On January 7, 2016, the American Cancer Society in California announced that pancreatic cancer is expected to surpass breast cancer to become the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, according to the latest Cancer Statistics 2016 report, published today entitled, “A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.” While the relative five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer increased slightly to 8 percent, it is still the lowest survival rate of any major cancer. Pancreatic cancer is expected to claim the lives of 41,780 individuals this year alone. To combat this upward trend, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network announced this year that it is working to double survival over the next three years, by 2020, through directly funding research and advocating for increased funding and resources from the government.On Thursday, August 11, 2016, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) made a major announcement. Although it still, as expected, refused to reschedule the drug as a less dangerous one, it announced that it would end a long-standing monopoly on the production of cannabis for medical research. The DEA decided to allow researchers and drug companies to use cannabis grown outside the DEA’s facilities in their research and trials, and allow those to register to grow marijuana “not only to supply federally-funded or other academic researchers but also for strictly commercial endeavors funded by the private sector and aimed at drug product development.”Waggoner stated, “Now that all...governmental approvals have been obtained and UNCO has [already] received the research cannabis, we are finally able to build upon the firm foundation that had been laid in our quest to develop targeted cannabinoid cancer chemotherapies that utilize the Cell-in-a-Box(R) technology." The Cell-in-a-Box® technology, developed by Austrianova, is a means to protect, isolate, store and transport living cells.As a result of the DEA's decision, PharmaCyte contracted with the University of Northern Colorado (“UNCO”), led by Dr. Richard M. Hyslop, to conduct the research related to PharmaCyte's medical cannabis program. The UNCO has obtained all of the necessary approvals and has now received all of the approvals necessary to research cannabis to advance PharmaCyte's program.PMCB's proprietary technology can be used for a variety of purposes. In healthcare, it facilitates the safe implantation of cells, holding them isolated from the immune system and allowing long-term production of therapeutic molecules in patients. In biotechnology, the Cell-in-a-Box® technology protects cells in bioreactors and fermenters, while at the same time simplifying purification of bioproducts produced from the cells and reducing production cost.The technology can also be applied to probiotics, cosmetics and agriculture, environmental protection and monitoring, as well as forming the basis of for a powerful research tool which should clear the way for PharmaCyte to move higher from these levels. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on PMCB, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in PMCB and have not been compensated for this article.