On February 2, 2022 Pimera Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing breakthrough medicines for cancer and other diseases with high unmet medical need, reported that the Company and its collaborators Dr. Luc Furic, Head, Translational Prostate Cancer Research at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Professor Ross Hannan, Centenary Chair in Cancer Research and Head of the ACRF Department of Cancer Biology and Therapeutics, Associate Dean Research (Biomedical and Translational) at Australian National University, have been awarded a Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) grant from the Department of Defense to advance its lead program PMR-116 to the clinic for prostate cancer (Press release, Pimera Therapeutics, FEB 2, 2022, View Source [SID1234607653]).

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Pimera is developing PMR-116, a novel inhibitor of RNA polymerase I (Pol I), a transcription factor for MYC driven cancers, for the treatment of multiple solid tumor oncology indications. The grant award, which totals more than $1 million, will support efficacy studies of PMR-116 in patient-derived models, identification of novel combination therapies, and identification of biomarkers of response from the ongoing Phase 1 study of PMR-116.

"PMR-116 is a very exciting program with a novel mechanism of action and an encouraging efficacy and safety profile to date. In preclinical studies, we observed robust efficacy in several MYC-driven models, including those that are resistant to standard-of-care therapy. In the ongoing Phase 1 study, PMR-116 demonstrated favorable target engagement and early clinical efficacy signals in multiple solid tumor patients," said Mustapha Haddach, Ph.D., President and CEO of Pimera. "This recognition from the DOD on the potential of PMR-116 further validates our approach with PMR-116 to improve care for cancer patients, and in particular, prostate cancer, which is one of the leading causes of cancer death in men in the US. We look forward to advancing PMR-116 through dose escalation, expanding into additional indications, and into Phase 2 to address several large cancer markets and improve patient outcomes."

"PMR-116 suppresses the ability of cancer cells to synthesize the machinery required to express the high level of proteins required for cancer growth. What we’ve demonstrated in pre-clinical models of CRPC and NEPC with PMR-116 is a powerful new way to inhibit proliferation in the most advanced stages of prostate cancer," added Dr. Luc Furic, Head, Translational Prostate Cancer Research at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. "The significant support from this DOD Award will allow us to further characterize biomarkers of response to PMR-116 and perform the ground word required to bring PMR-116 to the clinic for prostate cancer patients."

This grant was supported by the Department of Defense of the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition under Award Number FY21-PCRP-TSA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Defense.

About PMR-116
PMR-116 is our lead therapeutic in clinical development for multiple cancer indications including solid tumors. PMR-116 acts through a novel mechanism of action, targeting the RNA polymerase I, or POL I, a transcription factor for MYC driven cancers and other diseases with high unmet medical need. In preclinical studies, PMR-116 has demonstrated robust preclinical efficacy in multiple MYC-driven models, including those that are resistant to standard-of-care treatments. PMR-116 is currently in the dose escalation stage of a Phase 1a/b clinical trial being conducted in Australia. Pimera intends to expand the development of PMR-116 in patients with MYC overexpressing solid tumors in a tumor type-agnostic approach. For more information about the ongoing clinical trial, please visit ANZCTR.