On May 11, 2017 TRACON Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TCON), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel targeted therapeutics for cancer, wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and fibrotic diseases, reported that preclinical data indicating the potential clinical utility of targeting endoglin in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-cell ALL), was published in the May 4, 2017 issue of Blood (Volume 129, Number 19, pages 2526-2536), a weekly medical journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) (Press release, Tracon Pharmaceuticals, MAY 11, 2017, View Source [SID1234519056]). Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo! Dr. Rita Perlingeiro, Professor of Medicine, and colleagues of the University of Minnesota, along with collaborators at the Federal University of Bahia (Salvador, Brazil) and the Laboratory for the Diagnosis of Onco-Hematological Disorders (Curitiba, Brazil), identified endoglin expression on the majority of blasts from patients with AML and B-cell ALL. These endoglin expressing blasts were shown to have superior leukemogenic activity. Furthermore, the researchers demonstrated that TRACON’s endoglin antibody, TRC105, prevented the engraftment of primary AML blasts, and inhibited leukemic progression following disease establishment in mice. In both AML and B-cell ALL, TRC105 synergized with reduced intensity myeloablation to inhibit leukemogenesis in the mouse model.
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"We have been studying the function of endoglin in hematopoiesis for more than a decade, and the consistent expression of this receptor in the majority of acute leukemias was intriguing. Our hypothesis that endoglin expression was linked to leukemia-forming activity was proven to be true, and it was even more rewarding to witness the robust anti-leukemogenic effect of blocking endoglin signalling with TRC105, even when leukemia had already been established in the mouse," said Dr. Perlingeiro. "We are thrilled with the potential of our basic research to contribute to the development of a new line of therapy for patients with AML and B-cell ALL."
"We are pleased to see that this promising research, conducted by Dr. Perlingeiro and her collaborators, has been published in Blood," said Charles Theuer, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of TRACON. "AML and B-cell ALL represent hematologic malignancies with high unmet need and, as this data indicate, the potential utility of directly targeting endoglin may represent an additional development opportunity for TRC105."
About Carotuximab (TRC105)
TRC105 is a novel, clinical stage antibody to endoglin, a protein overexpressed on proliferating endothelial cells that is essential for angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation. TRC105 is currently being studied in one Phase 3 and multiple Phase 2 clinical trials sponsored by TRACON or the National Cancer Institute for the treatment of solid tumors in combination with VEGF inhibitors. TRC105 has received orphan designation for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma in both the U.S. and EU. The ophthalmic formulation of TRC105, DE-122, is currently in a Phase 1/2 trial for patients with wet AMD. TRC205, a second generation antibody to endoglin, is undergoing preclinical testing in models of fibrosis. For more information about the clinical trials, please visit TRACON’s website at www.traconpharma.com/clinical_trials.php.