Download - Mintek

TECHNICAL REVIEWGOLD INDUSTRYAuTEK – extending the industrial uses of goldProject AuTEK, the joint R&D initiative between Mintek and the three majorSouth African gold producers to develop new industrial uses for gold, is nownanotechnology and biomedical applications.AuTEK BiomedicalBiomedical research under Project AuTEK, jointly funded by Harmony Goldand Mintek, focuses on developing new types of metal-based therapeuticagents, with the emphasis on cancer, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. The past yearin the in-house team. Mintek’s HIV BSL II biomedical laboratory was fullycommissioned, and funding receivedfrom the Technology and HumanResources for Industry Programme(THRIP) allowed for the acquisitionof a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance(NMR) instrument, which will becommissioned in early 2008. Newdevelopment opportunities are beinginvestigated through networkingand collaborative approachesto the large pharmaceuticalcompanies, with the emphasison HIV.More than 170 compoundshave been screened so far foranti-tumour activity, with 30per cent showing promisingresults. Structure-based“Biomedical researchunder Project AuTEK,jointly funded by HarmonyGold and Mintek, focuseson developing new typesof metal-based therapeuticagents, with the emphasison cancer, malaria, andHIV/AIDS.”design has resulted in an increase in the “hit rate” (activity plusselectivity) to 10 per cent. The pharmacological work is largelyundertaken at the universities of Cape Town, Western Cape, andPretoria, with synthetic efforts taking place in-house and at threelocal universities (Cape Town, Johannesburg, and KwaZulu-USA for possible assistance with the further development of themost promising compounds.Under the HIV programme, more than 100 compounds werescreened in the past year (the majority of them in-house), with aninhibitor rate of 16 per cent. Advanced studies on 19 interestingcandidates are under way, and it is planned to submit samples topartners in the USA for further evaluation as a step towards preclinicaltrials.Steady progress has also been made in the anti-malarialprogramme, which like the cancer programme is also largelyuniversity-based. More than 40 ligands have been prepared, andMain pic:Solvent dryingin the AuTEKbiomedicalscreeninglaboratory.17annual report 2007