CAMBRIDGE, Md., Dec. 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ConverGene has entered into an exclusive license agreement with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Under this agreement, ConverGene has the rights to commercialize jointly developed small molecule BET bromodomain inhibitors that have a unique core structure as compared to other cancer therapeutics currently in clinical trials. This is an area of intense research and new advances are continuous in the competitive area of epigenetic control. Preliminary preclinical studies indicate that the molecules being developed with this unique core structure possess superior pharmacokinetic and toxicology properties. The first focus of ConverGene will be in the hematology oncology space followed by solid tumors. However, our molecules affect fundamental biological pathways and as such will be valuable to out-license in a variety of disease fields including inflammation, obesity, metabolic, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, psychiatric and infectious diseases.
CEO Dr. Jeff Strovel commented, “We are delighted to be working with NCATS and see a bright future for this compound in treating a variety of diseases for which patients currently have no treatment options."
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). AML is an orphan disease and about 20,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2017. Treatment of patients with AML has changed little over the last two decades and there are no branded AML products available on the US market. Therapeutic regimens involve several courses of treatment with high doses of cytotoxic/cytostatic chemotherapy drugs known to induce considerable toxicity. Furthermore, current treatments rarely induce long-lasting complete remissions. Currently, only 25% of adults with AML are expected to survive three or more years. Thus, new classes of targeted AML therapy that intervene on cancer-specific pathways are desperately needed to improve the quality of life and survival rate in this patient population.
About ConverGene
ConverGene is a small molecule discovery company leveraging rational drug design. Our mission is to develop therapeutics with novel mechanisms of action for cancer patients with limited or no treatment options.
Our lead drug program is a first in class, oral, small molecule inhibitor selective against BET proteins. ConverGene has discovered several series of novel, proprietary chemical compounds that suppress MYC oncogene and determined the mechanism of action is through inhibition of BET proteins. MYC drives growth and metastasis of many types of cancers including AML, prostate, breast, liver, pancreatic and lung cancer. Our clinical drug candidates block BET bromodomain proteins leading to significant depletion of cancer gene products driven by MYC leading to striking inhibition of tumor growth in animal models. We predict this drug will gain broad clinical usage enabling ConverGene and its partners to capitalize on a multi-billion-dollar global oncology market.
ConverGene believes that its portfolio of intellectual property protects its product candidates and technologies. Opportunities to realize significant early value inflection points are available through strategic licensing of our drug candidates. For additional information on ConverGene, please visit its website at convergenepharma.com.