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Developing a new drug for acute myeloid leukaemia

Elvar Örn Viktorsson, a lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences 

A group of natural materials, hitherto little researched, appear to be effective against both certain kinds of cancer and multiresistant bacteria. These were the findings of Elvar Örn Viktorsson's doctoral project at the University of Oslo, from which he graduated in late 2017. Elvar is now working as a lecturer in pharmaceutical natural product chemistry at the University of Iceland, where he intends to further pursue this remarkable research. 

Elvar's research focuses on a group of materials called phenazine 5,10-dioxides and the natural product iodinin. "This had previously been isolated from bacteria samples collected in the Trondheim Fjord in Norway. Researchers then demonstrated that this molecule was highly effective and selective against human leukaemia cells. However, the molecule has limited potential as a drug, so it was important to begin synthesising a closely-related derivative, both to solve problems of solubility and to evaluate the relationship between chemical structure and activity in cell examinations," says Elvar, adding that the information acquired from such a process may be used to steer the development of iodinin in the direction of a related molecule and potentially a new drug. 
 

Elvar Örn Viktorsson

"A new drug that would attack the disease more selectively could therefore lead to a much gentler medication in the future, with fewer side effects."

Elvar Örn Viktorsson

Elvar points out that the anthracycline class of drugs have long been used in the initial treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, AML, but they have serious side effects, e.g. cardiac problems. "A new drug that would attack the disease more selectively could therefore lead to a much gentler medication in the future, with fewer side effects," says Elvar of the significance of the research. 

For his doctoral project, Elvar synthesised iodinin and a natural derivative of this called myxin, which is not easy to come by. "The synthesis was successful and enabled us to advance the development of prodrugs and derivatives through syntheses with improved effectiveness and physical pharmaceutical properties. To put it briefly, scientists have demonstrated that this group of materials has huge potential for treating AML, especially with regard to effectiveness and considerable selectivity," says Elvar. These materials also seem to be effective against multiresistant bacteria, which are a growing global problem. 

Elvar points out that this group of materials has been relatively little researched so far. "My goal at the University is to continue development of iodinin and phenazine 5,10-dioxide derivatives against AML and multiresistant bacteria," he concludes.