Passionate: Bioven’s Chairman and Managing Director Mukhriz Mahathir (right), with Executive Director Johan Indot (centre) and CEO W. Shermal Perera

Firm’s new vaccine is ‘potentially the world’s most effective treatment for cancer’
Firm’s new vaccine is ‘potentially the world’s most effective treatment for cancer’

As attention grabbing claims go, “potentially the world’s most effective treatment for cancer” is one that is pretty well guaranteed to get the scientific community and patients alike to sit up and take notice.

This is how the small Malaysian biotech-life science company Bioven describes its first patented compound, the EGF cancer vaccine, which it says is a breakthrough in cancer therapeutics. Bioven has been developing and commercialising the drug in partnership with the Centre for Molecular Immunology, Cuba (CIMAB).

Patients suffering from lung cancer who have been treated with the vaccine have shown improved rates of survival, and it is said to have the potential to treat 70 per cent of all cancers. With the market for cancer vaccines expected to grow significantly in the coming decade, the commercial potential for Bioven’s product is huge.

The company has secured the full rights to market the vaccine in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and Islamic countries. “We now have access to the world’s largest cancer market,” says Chairman and Managing Director Mukhriz Mahathir.

Bioven owns four therapeutic cancer products, which it has been testing in Malaysia. Recent statistics suggest that 1 in 5.5 of the population in the country will suffer from the disease – rising to an alarming 1 in 4 if non-registered cases are taken into account.
Established in 2002, Bioven has come a long way in a short space of time, with some of its commercial products now sold into Europe and across the Asia-Pacific region. Mr Mukhriz says it is still a relatively small company, despite having big ambitions. “This makes us a lot more flexible and determined. It is quite a big challenge for us to take on huge projects and yet we do it. We are driven enough to make sure that we see each and every endeavour through.”

Bioven has access to the world’s largest market for cancer treatments

Bioven’s cancer vaccines are different to conventional treatments, he explains. “Our products significantly increase the length of time that patients live and also provide them with a good quality of life. Unlike conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, our therapeutic cancer vaccine has very few side effects. Therefore the patients do not have to suffer the normal side effects like losing their hair.”

The cancer vaccines are the outcome of one of a number of partnerships that the company has formed with research institutes in Cuba. A Hepatitis B vaccine is also in late stage development – a nasal spray formulation that the company says is the first of its kind.

Bioven has also been strengthening its UK connections recently, visiting Cambridge, one of the hubs of the UK’s own flourishing biotech sector. “The key is to let people know what we have here,” says Mr Mukhriz. “They may know about the blockbuster vaccines, but they do not know about our other capabilities.” Links are already strong. Two of Bioven’s directors are research and commercial people from UK-based biotech companies, providing a hotline straight into the UK scientific community.

Mr Mukhriz urges investors in the UK to take a close look not only at Bioven itself but at Malaysia generally, with its pro-business support for all types of biotechnology ventures. “So far, the biotech projects that Malaysia has executed have proven to be very sound, our projects are cost-effective.”

Together with Bioven’s Chief Executive Officer W. Shermal Perera and Executive Director Johan Indot, he is passionate about the company’s cancer vaccines. “Cancer is one of the biggest killers and it does me good to know that I am part of the initiative that aims to eliminate it,” he says. “It is not just about the money, it is about what we can do to improve the quality of life for the people and how we can save those who are suffering from the disease.”