 President's Message |
| As we all know, the extermination of cancer is a major issue for everyone around the world as the number of cancer deaths is still the largest and fastest growing, even in the developed world. In this respect, Japan is no exception at all. Naturally, the whole of human society is hoping for a new wave of cancer treatments based on innovative concepts and technologies.
Kringle Pharma was established in December, 2001 targeting the eradication of cancer by new candidate medicines originating from Osaka University. Most current cancer treatments have been developed for killing cancer cells directly, often resulting in serious or toxic side effects such as death of organs or immunodeficiencies. |
President/CEO
Kunio Iwatani
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This frequently creates a major obstacle in the routine management of cancer patients who want to live longer and improve their quality of life. We will contribute to the new development of cancer therapies by using NK4, a molecule discovered by Prof. Nakamura and Ass. Prof. Matsumoto at Osaka University. I believe that NK4 will be a forerunner of evolving cancer treatment options for the 21st century, mainly because NK4 has two principle modes of action. In fact, NK4 directly inhibits both tumor invasion and metastasis as well as tumor growth, also called "freeze therapy" or "dormant therapy". The former means NK4 inhibits the migration of cancer cells to surrounding healthy tissues or to other organs, and the latter means NK4 suppresses the angiogenesis activity of cancer cells. Importantly, NK4 appears to be equally active in a wide range of different cancer types and stages that could trigger a fundamental change in how cancer is treated in the future.
NK4 was discovered through world-renowned HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) research activities, the lifework of Prof. Nakamura for 20 years. The mission of Kringle Pharma is to save the cancer patients in the world by offering a new method of treatment derived from the innovative research and development. In combining our knowledge and efforts with applied modern biotechnology, we are confident of finding and developing new and original medicines for global therapeutic use in cancer patients within the next few years.
I look forward to your continuous support for our efforts at Kringle Pharma.
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Origin of Company Name
Kringle Pharma, Inc.
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NK4 :
NK4, the molecule that displays antagonistic activity to HGF (hepatocyte growth factor), derives its name from its 4 kringle structures next to the N-terminal hairpin structure.
Company Name :
Both HGF and NK4 have kringle structures at the active site of the molecule. Therefore, we named the company name "Kringle Pharma, Inc." after "Kringle" and "Pharmaceuticals".
Principal Project :
The main goal for Kringle Pharma, Inc. is to develop pharmaceutical products based on our research on HGF and NK4. Our corporate mission is ultimately to save patients suffering from cancer or other diseases in the world by improving the quality of their life.
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