Dr. Lewis: The derivation of the "Z" ZIOPHARM comes from Z in Ancient Greek, a symbol that means "in pursuit of the truth," combined with the term bio. The company was started in 2004. We're based out of New York and Boston, and we have direct ties with several major cancer centers, patient and research centers, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, M. D. Anderson in Houston and the Southern Research Institute in Alabama. The origin centered on a lot of the people who had worked at some of these places. For example, I had been instrumentally involved with Sloan-Kettering. In Boston we have people who have been involved working and leading - very successfully - in some Big Pharma companies and then in several biotech companies developing drugs. We acquired several programs. We have three now in cancer in the clinic, and we've now reached a stage where we are furthest along in a randomized Phase II trial with one program.
TWST: You specifically focus on small molecule cancer drugs, is that right?
Dr. Lewis: Yes, small molecules are drugs that are made up of what we call small combinations of atoms as opposed to "large" combinations, for example proteins. Thus, large molecules are usually big proteins or antibodies. The reason to go after small molecules is that, in general, they are often easier to make and manufacture so it's lower-cost manufacturing and production. In addition, you can give these drugs orally, that is in pill form. So you can give them both intravenously and orally. That was part of our vision from the very beginning - low cost and the idea of oral delivery. Another reason to go after small molecules was that they work extremely effectively. Some of the most successful drugs in cancer are small molecules, and they have all of these different attributes that can be very helpful.
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