On June 21, 2016 Aptose Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:APTO) (TSX:APS) ("Aptose" or the "Company") reported a corporate update in advance of the Company’s Annual General Meeting of shareholders to be held today at 10:00 AM ET in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Press release, Aptose Biosciences, JUN 21, 2016, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2178995 [SID:1234513471]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Aptose previously announced on November 20, 2015 that an earlier formulation of APTO-253 drug product caused filter clogging during a Phase Ib clinical trial. Aptose voluntarily suspended dosing of patients and contacted the FDA, after which APTO-253 was placed on clinical hold for the filter clogging event. Subsequent activities sought to develop a new formulation in which APTO-253 would be soluble and stable, and to evaluate the formulation in mock infusion studies as part of a submission to the FDA.
In studies performed to date, Aptose has shown positive results with a new prototype formulation for APTO-253. The prototype formulation utilizes the same excipients that were used in the earlier drug formulation, except the methodology and order of addition of excipients were modified to create potentially a more soluble and stable formulation of APTO-253. In these exploratory studies, the prototype formulation was evaluated during mock infusion procedures at multiple dose levels, and no filter clogging was observed. Upon completion of formal studies, Aptose plans to collect and analyze all data and submit this analysis to the FDA for evaluation.

On June 8, 2016 Aptose and CrystalGenomics, Inc. announced an exclusive global option and license agreement focused on the development of CG026806 (CG’806), a first-in-class, highly potent, non-covalent small molecule inhibitor of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) and the Aurora kinases (AURK). Further to the execution of the agreement, Aptose expects to undertake Investigational New Drug (IND) enabling studies in the near future, and, if it exercises its option under the agreement, to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial by mid-2017. The combination of CG’806’s potency and in vivo safety profile suggest that CG-806 may serve as an important therapeutic option for patients with AML, CLL and other malignancies.
In addition to APTO-253 and CG’806, in November, 2015 Aptose announced collaborations with Moffitt Cancer Center, and the medicinal chemistry organization, Laxai Avanti Life Sciences (LALS), to create and develop dual mechanism cancer agents to simultaneously target the epigenetic bromodomain 4 (BRD4) motif of BET proteins and the kinase active site of certain oncogenic enzymes. The program exists in the discovery / preclinical stage and is expected to deliver one or more new agents to the Aptose pipeline in the future.

"This past year has been a time of repair and growth for our drug product pipeline. Clearly, we faced the need to solve manufacturing issues related to APTO-253 and deliver a new formulation that can yield reliable clinical material to support the ongoing clinical trial in patients with AML. In addition, we halted the majority of legacy programs, while adding the CG’806 and the BRD4-kinase inhibitor programs to our pipeline. These actions were taken with the aim of creating shareholder value and developing highly differentiated drugs that can improve the lives of cancer patients. We are proud of our progress, and we look forward to advancing these programs in the coming years," commented William G. Rice, Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO of Aptose Biosciences, Inc.

About Aptose
Aptose Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to discovering and developing personalized therapies addressing unmet medical needs in oncology. Aptose is advancing new therapeutics focused on novel cellular targets on the leading edge of cancer research coupled with companion diagnostics to identify the optimal patient population for our products. The company’s small molecule cancer therapeutics pipeline includes products designed to provide single agent efficacy and to enhance the efficacy of other anti-cancer therapies and regimens without overlapping toxicities. For further information, please visit www.aptose.com. Aptose Biosciences Inc. is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol APTO and on the TSX under the symbol APS.