Angiogenesis

Angiogenesis is defined as the growth of new blood vessels. It is a naturally occurring process both in health and disease. It has long been recognized as a process critically involved in a number of disease conditions such as cancer, age-related macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, diabetic blindness and a large number of other conditions.

Therapeutic angiogenesis is being developed to treat conditions such as coronary artery disease, stroke, and wound healing. Over $4 billion has been invested in R & D by the pharmaceutical industry in this area, yet existing pre-clinical models are not sufficiently predictive of clinical trial success. There are an estimated 14 million cancer patients that could benefit from an effective antiangiogenic therapy. AndroBioSys has developed the AngioGraft™ Assay to address the need for better pre-clinical models to test potential anti- or pro-angiogenic agents.

Over 200 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have programs in this area, and one of the most successful drugs is Avastin™, a monoclonal antibody drug targeting VEGF, which had sales of over $3.5 billion in 2007.

Approximately 70 new peer-reviewed research articles appear in the literature each week, making this one of the most active areas of investigation in the drug industry.