The Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation will soon distribute more than $1 million to three cancer-treatment facilities, including the Regional Cancer Center.
An Erie County judge and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office have approved the foundation’s dissolution plans to give the remainder of its assets to these facilities. The money is to be used for human trials of the Kanzius Noninvasive Radiowave Cancer Device.
“These funds are specifically to go for patient care, to assist the patient during the treatment and beyond,” said Maryann Yochim, president of the foundation’s board of directors. “It’s not to be used to purchase the equipment.”
People donated more than $10 million to the Erie-based nonprofit, which raised money for research involving the late Millcreek Township inventor’s cancer-treatment device.
The foundation closed its doors June 30 after officials announced it has funded all the research needed on the device to take it to human trials.
Court documents show that the foundation’s assets of $1,050,000 will be divided in the following way:
– $250,000 will go to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and $250,000 will go to the Lee Memorial Health System Foundation in Fort Myers, Fla., to be used to create John Kanzius Human Trial Funds at each facility for the administration of human trials of the Kanzius device.
– The rest of the assets — as much as $550,000 — will go to the Erie Community Foundation, which will create a similar fund through which money will be distributed to the Regional Cancer Center and other qualified entities for the administration of human trials of the Kanzius device.
“More of the money is going to Erie because this was an Erie-based foundation. It started here,” Yochim said.
RCC officials said they have not heard anything new about the funding for Kanzius human trials.
“When the Kanzius device receives the necessary FDA approvals and completes a successful Phase I trial period, (the) RCC will be prepared to incorporate its use into our ongoing clinical research activities,” RCC spokeswoman Tricia Gottlieb said in an e-mail.
Curley said Baylor will use the money to hire a dedicated research nurse to be certain all patients in the Kanzius human trials are properly evaluated, consented, and followed.
“All patient data must be properly collected and de-identified to protect patient privacy, then the results are turned over to the FDA,” Curley said in an e-mail. It is critically important that all patient data is collected and protected in a proper fashion and that all data is reported accurately.”
If the Food and Drug Administration does not approve the Kanzius device for human trials or it doesn’t reach Stage II within five years, the money will be distributed for cancer research.
Erie County Judge Elizabeth Kelly approved the foundation’s plans April 21.
