CuraGen Advances CR011-vcMMAE into Phase II
Wednesday April 9, 6:30 am ET
- Clinical trial expanded to further evaluate activity of CR011-vcMMAE for advanced melanoma -
- Preliminary Phase I/II results to be presented in June at 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting -
BRANFORD, Conn., April 9, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CuraGen Corporation (Nasdaq: CRGN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, announced today that it has advanced CR011-vcMMAE, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), into Phase II for the treatment of patients with unresectable Stage III and Stage IV melanoma. CuraGen also announced today that updated data from the ongoing Phase I/II trial with CR011-vcMMAE will be presented at the 2008 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, to be held May 30 - June 3, 2008 in Chicago, IL.
"We are pleased with the progress achieved in the CR011-vcMMAE clinical program," commented Dr. Ronit Simantov, Vice President of Medical Development and Chief Medical Officer. "Advancing this program into Phase II is an important development milestone as we look to establish the role of CR011-vcMMAE in the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma."
"Antibodies have made a significant impact in cancer treatment, and we believe that ADCs represent the next generation of antibody technologies. Over the last year, ADCs have demonstrated proof-of-concept activity against both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies," said Dr. Timothy M. Shannon, President and Chief Executive Officer of CuraGen. "We are encouraged by the activity observed to date with CR011-vcMMAE and are looking forward to reporting updated results at ASCO in June."
CR011-vcMMAE is an ADC comprised of a fully-human monoclonal antibody against glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB) attached to a potent, synthetic drug monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE), using Seattle Genetics' proprietary technology. The ADC recognizes GPNMB, a novel, selective target that plays a role in the ability of cancer cells to invade and metastasize. CR011-vcMMAE contains an enzyme-cleavable linker designed to be stable in the bloodstream and to release MMAE after internalization into tumor cells that express GPNMB, resulting in cancer cell death.
ASCO Presentation Details
A poster entitled "A phase I/II study of CR011-vcMMAE, an antibody toxin conjugate drug in patients with unresectable stage III/IV melanoma," is scheduled to be presented by Patrick Hwu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, on Sunday, June 1, 2008 from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. The poster session will be followed by a poster discussion from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
surf's up......crikey
