DHI's marine biologists in Singapore and toxicologists in Denmark are joining forces to understand the chemicals that marine sponges secrete.
One of these substances is the basis of the new cancer drug Halaven®, and for the sponge the substance appears to be an anti-fouling mechanism to keep its surface free of algae and barnacles.
The medicinal product is a very potent anti-tumor drug but also has serious side effects. The drug was approved in the USA in November 2010 and in the EU, Japan, and Singapore in the beginning of 2011.