Santalis Pharmaceuticals issued patent for the use of sandalwood oil to treat cancers

Patent covers East Indian sandalwood oil-containing compositions that can be used to treat a variety of cancers.

Dr Paul Castella, CEO of Santalis Pharmaceuticals, said: “We’re very pleased that the first patent issued to us following acquisition by TFS Corporation protects compositions intended to treat life-threatening diseases. Obtaining patent protection for natural products is very challenging, and the issuance of this important patent validates our strategy of protecting novel compositions, formulations and uses of our pharmaceutical-grade East Indian sandalwood oil.”

East Indian sandalwood oil (EISO) is currently being studied in several Phase II clinical trials in Australia and the US for treatment of various skin conditions such as psoriasis, warts, atopic dermatitis and molluscum contagiosum. In addition, a mouth rinse containing EISO is being evaluated in a Phase II clinical trial for prevention of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients undergoing high dose radiation therapy.

EISO is an essential oil with a long history of use in traditional medicine and its broad range of biological activities and excellent safety profile make it an attractive drug candidate for clinical development in a variety of indications. Dr Corey Levenson, Santalis’ Chief Scientific Officer, said: “Most of our clinical efforts to date have focused on dermatology and EISO’s anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties. This patent underscores the importance of our research on EISO’s novel anti-proliferative effects and its potential for use in the treatment of cancer.”