Simecos · A New Adjuvant Nutraceutical from the North Atlantic Ocean for Breast, Lung and Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Genis is based in Siglufjördur, a village in the North Iceland traditionally focused on the fishing industry. After the fishery crisis worsen in 2008, Siglufjördur started to pay attention to the marine biotechnology, with Genis at the forefront. Hence, since 2002, we develop health products based in T-ChOS™ (Therapeutic Chitooligosaccharides), which are compounds obtained from chitin extracted from the North Atlantic shrimp exoskeleton. T-ChOS™ show a strong anti-inflammatory effect based in a novel biological pathway discovered by Genis: Inhibition of the YKL-40 chitinase enzyme, whose levels are very high in several diseases as cancer. Our in vitro, in vivo and human studies prove that T-ChOS™ can decrease inflammation and enhance tumour response to chemotherapy. During the Ph1 project, we confirmed the feasibility of developing a nutraceutical based on T-ChOS™ to use as an adjuvant to chemotherapy in cancer patients. In this Ph2 project, we aim to optimise manufacturing, validate through a clinical trial and bring to market SIMECOS: A nutraceutical for cancer patients derived from chitin purified T-ChOS™ molecules. SIMECOS targets lung, breast and pancreatic cancer patients, with survival rates after 5-year of 20%, 82.2% and 5.2%, respectively. SIMECOS is expected to increase their quality of life, thanks to its proven effects to decrease pain and fatigue. The high trends (30%-95%) among cancer patients to use complementary supplements entail a great business opportunity for SIMECOS as in Europe, there are more than 780,000 patients per year diagnosed with breast, pancreatic and lung cancer looking for solutions to decrease chemotherapy side effects and improve the effectiveness of their treatment. Clinically validated SIMECOS will help these patients. We expect SIMECOS to reach the market in 2020. By 2024, after our European expansion, SIMECOS will give a profit of €10.45M and considering a Phase 2 budget of €2.18M, the return-on-investment (ROI) will be 9.9