Lowe gets US patent for anti-cancer formula

Renowned Jamaican scientist and entrepreneur Dr Henry Lowe has been awarded a second patent from the world's leading United States Patent Office on the anti-cancer activities of the ball moss. The patent was issued on May 6 and titled," Methods for inhibiting prostate cancer by kinases and angiogenesis inhibitory mechanisms." Dr Joseph L. Bryant of the University of Maryland shares the patent with Dr Lowe.

The patent states that the ball moss isolates have been demonstrated to inhibit the growth and viability of prostate cancer cells by selectively inhibiting certain types of proteins called kinases, which signals the directive for cancer cells to grow and spread. The mechanism also prevents angiogenesis, which is the growth of new blood vessels to feed the cancer tumours.

According to Dr Lowe, his passion for prostate cancer research, "is not only because it has impacted negatively on the health of family members and friends, but also because it is one of the major cancers which cause death and harm to the majority of black males, throughout the world, particularly here in Jamaica."

Not only has he been doing laboratory and clinical work on prostate cancer with ball moss isolates and alpha prostate formula, Lowe is the lead author in the development of a book, The Prostate Cancer Guide - a resource for Jamaican men and their families, which was sold out and is being updated for a second edition.

Paulwell Pleased

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, in commending Dr Lowe for his achievement, said he is pleased with the progress of the project. "I would like to see more initiatives like this across the country. As minister, I am committed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among the people and I hereby offer my personal congratulations to Dr Lowe and his team," Paulwell said.

Meanwhile, recently appointed head of the National Commission on Science and Technology, Professor Errol Morrison, said that it is timely for the nation to take notice of the achievement by Dr Lowe, a locally based scientist.

"It is initiatives like these that shall be the mechanism for our country to earn its way out of poverty. This pioneering work must be held up as a beacon in the developing world, and once again, this time, in the sphere of science and technology, Jamaica leads the world," Morrison added.

Three years ago, at the launch of the Bio-Tech R&D Institute (which he founded) Dr Lowe promised to develop a nutraceutical called alpha prostate formula, with ball moss as the major ingredient in the formulation. This product was developed as promised and is now being sold internationally as a nutraceutical for the management of prostate health. Alpha prostate formula also boasts the distinction of being the only such product in the world.

Dr Lowe has published 12 peer-reviewed research papers on ball moss in leading academic journals and his discoveries and publications make him the world's authority on this subject. He is the first person to have discovered that the ball moss has major bio-medicinal properties.