SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today reported the development of two new antibody-drug conjugates, potentially for the therapy of colon and lung cancers, at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics: Discovery, Biology, and Clinical Applications, in San Francisco, CA.
The antibodies selected for this study were hMN-14, a non-internalizing humanized antibody that binds to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEACAM5) expressed by many solid cancers, and hRS7, a rapidly internalizing humanized antibody targeting epithelial glycoprotein-1 (EGP-1) expressed in high amounts in certain human cancers. The Company has conducted clinical trials with naked and radiolabeled hMN-14 (labetuzumab) in patients with colorectal, breast and pancreas cancers.
The drug selected for conjugation was SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan, a chemotherapeutic agent used for the treatment of colorectal, lung, and other cancers. SN-38 cannot be systemically administered to patients with cancer due to its toxicity and poor solubility. The two conjugated antibodies were designed to selectively deliver SN-38 to tumors, increasing the amount of drug reaching the tumors while minimizing the damage to other tissues and organs.
In an animal model of colon cancer with lung metastases, therapy with labetuzumab-SN-38 increased median survival time 2-fold to 73.5 days compared to non-treated and non-targeting conjugate controls. Moreover, in another colon cancer model, 80% of treated animals (4/5) remained alive after 127 days, with 2 animals having no measurable tumors, while untreated animals were sacrificed by day 21 due to tumor burden. Similar results were observed in animals bearing human non-small-cell lung cancer treated with hRS7-SN-38. In this experiment, four out of five treated animals were tumor-free 118 days after receiving injections of human non-small-cell lung cancer cells.
"These important preclinical studies demonstrate our ability to conjugate powerful drugs to two different humanized antibodies in a stable, predictable manner, while utilizing the same drug conjugation process. Our conjugation technology allows for the use of extremely potent drugs because they are selectively and stably delivered via the antibody," commented Cynthia L. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer. "For fiscal year 2008, we intend to further develop the labetuzumab-SN-38 conjugate as a potential therapeutic for lung, breast and colorectal cancers," she added.
About Immunomedics
Immunomedics is a New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of monoclonal, antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. We have developed a number of advanced proprietary technologies that allow us to create humanized antibodies that can be used either alone in unlabeled or "naked" form, or conjugated with radioactive isotopes, chemotherapeutics or toxins, in each case to create highly targeted agents. Using these technologies, we have built a pipeline of therapeutic product candidates that utilize several different mechanisms of action. We have exclusively licensed our lead product candidate, epratuzumab, to UCB (www.ucb-group.com) for the treatment of all autoimmune disease indications worldwide. Epratuzumab's most advanced program is for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). At present, there is no cure for lupus and no new lupus drug has been approved in the U.S. in the last 40 years. We have retained the rights for epratuzumab in oncology indications for which UCB has been granted a buy-in option. The Company is conducting clinical trials with veltuzumab in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, epratuzumab as a potential therapeutic for patients with lymphoma and leukemia, 90Y-epratuzumab for the therapy of patients with lymphoma, 90Y-hPAM4 for pancreas cancer therapy and milatuzumab as a therapy for patients with multiple myeloma. We believe that our portfolio of intellectual property, which includes approximately 108 patents issued in the United States, and more than 250 other issued patents worldwide, protects our product candidates and technologies. We also have a majority ownership in IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is developing a novel Dock-and-Lock (DNL) methodology, and a new method of delivering imaging and therapeutic agents selectively to disease, especially different solid cancers (colorectal, lung, pancreas, etc.), by proprietary, antibody-based, pretargeting methods. For additional information on us, please visit our web site at http://www.immunomedics.com. The information on our website does not, however, form a part of this press release.
This release, in addition to historical information, may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements, including statements regarding clinical trials, out-licensing arrangements (including the timing and amount of contingent payments), forecasts of future operating results, and capital raising activities, involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied herein. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with new product development (including clinical trials outcome and regulatory requirements/actions), our dependence on our licensing partner for the further development of epratuzumab for autoimmune indications, competitive risks to marketed products and availability of required financing and other sources of funds on acceptable terms, if at all, as well as the risks discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any obligation, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.