SOLBEC Pharmaceuticals has filed US and Australian patent applications on procedures for extracting, purifying and formulating its plant-derived anti-cancer agent.




The Perth-based company is also finalising purchase of a seven hectare property south of Perth, where it plans to grow more supplies of devil's apple, the plant from which its BEC agent is extracted.




Solbec already has a horticultural facility in place where the introduced plant - regarded as a noxious weed in some areas of Australia - is grown.




The company has also commissioned a design and costing for a factory to be built in Osborne Park in addition to its existing laboratory-scale plant.




Chairman Michael Ruane said the procedures for which the patent applications were lodged were "quite significant" for the company, because they allowed Solbec to extract the active ingredient relatively simply and in a more pure state.




Dr Ruane said the commercialisation time frame of BEC depended on whether it was granted orphan drug status in the US, in which case it could take two years. Solbec closed 0.5¢ down at 18.5¢.