CET obtains patent for compound with anti-cancer properties

The College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram (CET) has bagged a patent for inventing a pharmaceutical agent that is expected to have immense potential in cancer treatment.

The newly synthesised compound, 3-([4-Chloro-3(Trifluoromethyl) Phenyl] Amino)-5-Hydroxy-2-Methyl-1,4-Dihydronapthalene-1,4-Dione, was the result of the five-year long research jointly undertaken by Shyni P. Laila and Arunkumar B.

The researchers were guided by Annette Fernandez, the former head of the Department of Chemistry at CET who had retired as Principal of the Government College of Arts and Science, Pathirippala, in Palakkad few years ago.

Arunkumar B. (centre) and Shyni P. Laila (right), who obtained patent for the compound in the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, with their research guide Annette Fernandez.   (Source: Special Arrangement)

They pointed out the pharmaceutical agent is a fluoro derivative (a derivate compound obtained by reaction with a fluoro-compound) which was derived by structural modification of a hydroxyquinone, Plumbagin, that was isolated from the roots of Plumbago zeylanica, a medicinal plant known as Koduveli in local parlance.

While subjected to in silico and in vitro studies in colon cancer and in melanoma cell lines, the new compound gave comparable cytotoxicity results as that of the standard cancer drugs Doxorubicin and Vemurafenib.

Fewer side effects

“Since this compound is a derivative of a phytocompound (produced by plants), we expect fewer side effects than the standard drugs. Thus, the compound can be used as a lead molecule as an anti-cancer agent,” they said.

The group has been continuing the research on other phytocompounds like Embelia ribes (known in Malayalam as Vizhalari).

While Dr. Laila is currently an associate professor in the Chemistry Department of University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. Arunkumar is a research assistant of the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Department of the Kerala University.

The particular research had been published in the ‘Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics’ in 2020. The patent, the application for which had been filed in 2015, has been granted for 20 years (from the date of filing). This is the third patent to be obtained by CET and the first by its Chemistry department.