GNTA NEWS
GNTA- Genta acquires novel cancer compound
Friday , December 03, 2004 13:01 ET
Dec 03, 2004 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) --Genta Incorporated has acquired worldwide rights from Temple University to intellectual property and technology, and a novel antisense compound that targets c-myb, a central gene that regulates the growth of cancer cells.
The compound, LR3001, was developed at Temple and has been tested in two phase I clinical trials at the University of Pennsylvania in patients with drug-resistant myeloid leukemia.
To date, clinical investigations have been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, including the rapid access to investigational drugs (RAID) program. A request for designation of LR3001 as an orphan drug for the treatment of chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) has been submitted to the FDA.
"I have known the oncology team at Genta for many years, and I believe they are ideally positioned to accelerate the development of this compound," said Dr Alan Gewirtz, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "I very much look forward to collaborating with Genta on this important clinical project."
Dr Gewirtz is a scientific leader in applications of oligonucleotides to understanding the regulation of cancer genes. His scientific work led to the development of LR3001, and he was instrumental in getting the drug into early clinical trials.
C-myb is a protein that binds DNA and acts as a transcription factor to regulate the function of a number of genes that are involved in the growth and differentiation of primitive cells. C-myb is expressed in early blood cells, and in neoplastic diseases that include cancers of the breast, pancreas and colon, malignant melanoma, and neuroblastoma.
http://www.datamonitor.com