Avalon Pharmaceuticals Announces Beta-catenin Pathway Inhibitors Demonstrate Significant Tumor Growth Inhibition
Thursday October 25, 8:00 am ET
GERMANTOWN, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVRX - News), today announced that compounds from its Beta-catenin pathway inhibitor program demonstrated significant tumor growth inhibition in multiple animal models. The results will be presented today at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in San Francisco, CA, from 12:30pm-2:30pm and from 5:30pm-7:30pm (PDT) in two posters titled:
“Compounds selected and optimized from a biomarker based Beta-catenin pathway screen decrease Beta-catenin protein levels in xenograft tumors, induce a gene expression signature consistent with inhibition of Beta-catenin activity, and exhibit anti tumor growth properties”
“LC-363: Optimization and in vitro characterization of a novel series of small molecule inhibitors of the Wnt/Beta-catenin signaling pathway.”
“The Beta-catenin pathway is well validated and clinically important but historically has been very elusive,” stated Stephen Horrigan, Ph.D., Vice President of Research at Avalon Pharmaceuticals. “Using AvalonRx®, our proprietary drug discovery and development platform, we identified structurally distinct orally available compounds that inhibit the Beta-catenin pathway, and have optimized one of the identified compound families to have significant activity in preclinical colon cancer models. We anticipate nominating a lead compound in 2008 which we will advance into IND enabling studies.”
Avalon’s lead series demonstrates broad activity in cell lines from multiple cancers while displaying its greatest activity in colon and hematologic malignancies. Compound optimization was achieved in less than 12 months by utilizing AvalonRx®, a proprietary biomarker centric approach which increased the potency of the compounds (50-fold) on the pathway and led to a series of compounds that are active in tumor models.
Beta-catenin Pathway
It is estimated the Beta-catenin pathway is abnormally activated in more than 90% of colon cancers and in a large number of other solid and hematological cancers. Many of these tumor cells have been found to be dependent on the Beta-catenin pathway for survival and to be particularly sensitive to inhibition of this critical pathway. Since the activation of the pathway is dependent of the activity of the Beta-catenin protein, a classically intractable target, Avalon Rx® is particularly well suited for the identification and optimization of drugs targeting this important pathway.
AvalonRx®
AvalonRx® is a comprehensive, innovative and proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene expression analysis. This platform facilitates drug discovery by expanding the range of therapeutic targets for drug intervention, including targets and target pathways frequently considered intractable using conventional HTS approaches. It also allows more informed decisions about which compounds to advance towards clinical trials and facilitates drug development through identification of biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify patients or provide early indicators of response.
About Avalon Pharmaceuticals
Avalon is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class cancer therapeutics. Avalon’s lead product candidate, AVN944, an IMPDH inhibitor, is in Phase II clinical development. Avalon also has preclinical programs to develop inhibitors of the Beta-catenin and Aurora/Centrosome pathways, discovery programs for inhibitors of the Survivin and Myc pathways and partnerships with Merck, MedImmune, ChemDiv, Medarex, and Novartis. AvalonRx® is the company’s proprietary platform which is based on large-scale biomarker identification and monitoring, used to discover and develop therapeutics for pathways that have historically been characterized as "undruggable." Avalon is headquartered in Germantown, MD.
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