Santa Clara, CA (PRWEB) April 1, 2011 — Crown Bioscience, Inc. announces their partnership with Allostem Therapeutics (Farmington, CT) providing discovery and pre-clinical Cancer Biology services for Allostem’s MEK inhibitor program. CIP-137401 is the clinical candidate from a novel MEK inhibitor scaffold with Best- In-Class potential. The proprietary scaffold was designed based on x-ray crystal structure information to improve potential liabilities of MEK compounds currently in the clinic and was discovered by ChemInpharma, LLC, a medicinal chemistry focused drug discovery services company. CIP-137401 is an exceptional candidate, says Dr. Uday Khire, Chief Executive Officer of Allostem Therapeutics. “We are so glad that our design of MEK inhibitors worked out as designed, and as a result we have a candidate with outstanding pharmacokinetic data which translated in remarkable in vivo data”.
Allostem Therapeutics will leverage Crown Bio’s unique HuPrime® models, powerful molecular profiling, and data analysis capabilities to perform Phase0 model selection as a synergistic biological complement accelerating the development of Allostem Therapeutics’ novel small molecule MEK inhibitors. “CrownBio’s ability to develop drugs with a clear clinical path combined with Allostem’s novel drug molecules targeting the kinase mediated oncogenic pathway could provide alternative therapeutics in various cancers with unmet needs including colorectal, liver, lung, and head&neck. ” stated Dr. Yiyou Chen, CSO, Crown Bioscience. Dr. Uday Khire of Allostem Therapeutics further stated “Our collaboration with Crown Bioscience significantly compliments our oncology discovery capabilities by providing wider access to more clinically relevant and predictive efficacy models. In addition, CrownBio’s technology platform will enable us to more effectively utilize patient stratification strategies pre-clinically to select the subsets of specific human cancers most likely to respond to our novel targeted therapeutic agents alone or in combination to identify the underlying cancer genotypes associated with drug sensitivity and resistance to current therapies .”
Allostem Therapeutics is currently seeking to partner its assets and will be presenting preliminary results at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Orlando, FL.
Abstract Title: 5470 Potent MEK inhibitor CIP-137401: Preclinical studies
PRESENTATION TIME: WEDNESDAY,APR 06, 2011, 8:00 AM -12:00 PM
Location:
Exhibit Hall A4-C, Poster Section 30
About MEK
MEK is a key protein kinase in the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, which signals for cancer cell proliferation and survival. MEK is frequently activated in cancer, in particular in tumors that have mutations in the RAS and RAF oncogene. MEK also regulates the biosynthesis of the inflammatory cytokines TNF, IL-6 and IL-1, which can act as growth and survival factors in cancer. Preclinical data show that MEK inhibitors are additive or synergistic in combination with other agents. In particular, the PI-3K/AKT/mTOR pathway interacts with the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway in response to growth factor signaling. Simultaneous inhibition of both these pathways has significantly greater preclinical anti-tumor activity compared to inhibition of either pathway alone. Because these pathways are commonly activated in many tumors, we believe that dual MEK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR inhibition could have broad anti-tumor activity.
Crown Bioscience, Inc. is a U.S.-based drug discovery service company with R&D facilities in China committed to advancing anti-cancer therapeutics through the preclinical and drug development stages. Its proprietary, HuPrime® and HuKemia® platforms enable unique lead optimization and translational oncology strategies to deliver better clinical candidates. Our team of experts provides an integrated service solution from idea to IND, including: preclinical, translational, and clinical capabilities.
For more information about CrownBio partnerships visit www.crownbio.com.
Crown Bioscience Inc.
3003 Bunker Hill Lane Ste 104
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Tel: 603-686-9330
Fax: 888-882-4881
Allostem Therapeutics, LLC is a privately held, pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of small molecule oncology therapeutics. Allostem was founded with a core expertise in high quality medicinal chemistry providing a launching point for a chemical genomics approach to the discovery of selective protein kinase inhibitors. The company’s vision is to rapidly and effectively develop pre-clinical oncology candidates that are then guided through the clinical development process by means of strategic partnerships.
For more information about Allostem Therapeutics visit
http://www.allostem.com or via email at info@allostem.com