Brief: Centrose is announcing today that it has successfully tested two lead compounds for toxicity effects in transgenic animals expressing humanized drug targets.
MADISON, Wis., September 14, 2009 — Centrose, a biotechnology company that is applying scientific breakthroughs in the understanding of sugar chemistry and sugar biology in order to rapidly develop a diverse pipeline of proprietary therapeutics announced today that it has successfully tested two of its drug leads for toxic effects in transgenic animals that were recently licensed from the University of Cincinnati. The study indicates that two lead anti-cancer drugs have similar toxicity profiles as their parent compound which is currently FDA approved. The new drugs discovered at Centrose were found to be over 100-fold more potent at killing cancer cells when compared to the parent drug. The data will be presented this week at the BioPharm Partnering Conference in San Francisco.
The licensed transgenic models are more “human-like” since the protein binding region which the drugs target is essentially human. The license with the University of Cincinnati covers the transfer of animal models to Centrose’s contract research partners. To date, Centrose’s lead compounds have been found to have potent antitumor efficacy against colorectal and non-small cell lung cancers. In earlier studies, human tumors were shown to undergo complete remission after Centrose’s program 1 drug leads were administered. Centrose anticipates moving at least one lead from the program into human clinical trials in 2011.
“The licensed animal models clearly show that antitumor activity is decoupled from toxicity,” said C. Richard Hutchinson, Chief Science Officer of Centrose. “We are now confident that our lead drugs can be efficacious in humans without undue toxicity, thus moving this program one step closer to the clinic”.
About Centrose: Centrose delivers commercially relevant technology for the attachment of any sugar molecule to any compound. Sugars are critical to the regulation of biological processes and pathways in the human body, and play fundamental roles in drug action. Naturally derived drugs such as erythromycin, a commonly used antibiotic, that contain sugar molecules have been found to be inactive after the sugars were removed and enhanced in activity when new sugars were added. Centrose owns exclusive chemistry that will allow it’s chemists to exploit the power of sugar chemistry in much the same way that nature does. Recent data suggests that new drugs containing sugar attachments will find their way to market more quickly, since fewer failures are expected. Centrose owns a broad set of patents and patent applications covering novel drug leads and platform methodology.
Contacts:
James Prudent, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer,
Centrose LLC
(608) 209-8933
