Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer in the United States. The company provides therapeutics through the use of its proprietary suite of technologies based upon gene expression analysis, known as AvalonRx. Its primary drug candidate, AVN944, an oral delivery, small molecule drug candidate, is in early stage clinical development for the treatment of hematological cancers. The company?s discovery and development programs comprise AVN944 for the inhibition of inosine 5?-monophosphate dehydrogenase, an enzyme elevated in the cells of cancer patients, particularly those with leukemia and lymphoma. Its other development programs include the application of AvalonRx to inhibit b-Catenin pathway in the initiation of cancer, as well as Aurora kinase pathways in colon and breast cancers, and leukemia. The company also involves in anti body development. The company has collaborations with MedImmune, Inc.; Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc.; Medarex, Inc.; Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated; Gene Logic, Inc.; and Asinex, Ltd. for the development of therapeutic anti bodies. Avalon Pharmaceuticals, formerly known as Therapeutic Genomics, Inc., was co-founded in 1999 by Kenneth C. Carter, Thomas G. David, Alan G. Walton, and Bradley G. Lorimier. The company is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland.
