Theralase Technologies Inc. announced that in preclinical research, it's lead compound, Ruvidar, when combined with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin ("BCG"), was able to create a new compound with new synergistic characteristics. In cell-based experiments, the new compound, nicknamed RuBCG, was able to significantly increase the efficacy of BCG in cancer cell kill versus BCG or Ruvidar alone, when non-light activated. The mechanism of action is believed to be through a reversal of the cell wall charge of the BCG bacteria and in return a significant enhancement of bladder cancer cell kill by RuBCG.

BCG is an attenuated form of Mycobacterium bovis, a bacterium with established efficacy in the treatment of urinary bladder cancer. It has been used clinically for decades, as the standard of care in the treatment of Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer ("NMIBC"). BCG is believed to work by invading bladder cancer cells and triggering an immune response, allowing the body's own immune system to attack and destroy the bladder cancer cells.

Unfortunately, BCG is effective in only 75% of patients treated and lacks a duration of response as 50% of these patients recur within 1 year of treatment. A possible explanation for why BCG works for certain patients, fails in others and lacks a durable response may lie in the fact that BCG possesses a strong negative electrical charge. Cancer cells also possess a strong negative electrical charge.

This results in the formation of a repulsion between the BCG bacterium and bladder cancer cells, which would thus make it difficult for BCG to adhere to and be absorbed by bladder cancer cells to affect a response. As a result, BCG remains unable to securely bind to the target bladder cancer cells and thus is ineffective in their destruction. This charge repulsion between BCG and bladder cancer cells is demonstrated clinically, by patients being required to undergo multiple BCG induction treatments, with high doses of BCG, in the hopes of achieving a meaningful anti-cancer effect.

A novel way to increase BCG effectiveness would be to "switch" the charge of negatively charged BCG to positively charged BCG, thus enabling bladder cancer cell adhesion and penetration of the negatively charged cancer cells. Bladder cancer is the 10th most common cancer in the world, 6th in men, with males having a 4 times higher incidence than females. 75% of patients who are diagnosed with bladder cancer present with NMIBC.

High-grade NMIBC has a high recurrence (45%) and a 3-fold chance of progression to a more advanced stage than low-grade NMIBC.