SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 21, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myrexis, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYRX), a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for cancer, today announced it will present at the 2010 Society for Neuro-Oncology Scientific Meeting and Education Day, to be held November 18-21, 2010 in Montreal, Canada.
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Title: |
Phase 2 study of Azixa (verubulin or MPC-6827) for the treatment of glioblastoma after bevacizumab failure |
| Date & Time: | Friday, November 19, 2010; 7 AM - 9 PM |
| Poster Number: | NO 65 |
Dr. Sean Grimm of the Northwestern University Brain Tumor Institute will present a poster with updated results from an ongoing, open-label Phase 2 monotherapy study of Azixa in treatment-experienced patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The presentation will focus on the subset of enrolled patients with the poorest prognosis who had relapsed following both first- and second-line chemotherapy, including Avastin® (bevacizumab).
Azixa is a novel small molecule that acts as a microtubule destabilizing agent, causing an arrest of cell division with subsequent programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in cancer cells. In non-clinical studies, Azixa has demonstrated the ability to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain at levels as much as 3000% that in the plasma. In addition, Azixa does not appear to be subject to multiple drug resistance (MDR) mechanisms. As such, Azixa has significant potential as a treatment for primary and secondary brain cancers.
In addition to the ongoing Phase 2 Azixa monotherapy study in treatment-experienced GBM, Myrexis plans to initiate enrollment in a Phase 2b clinical study of Azixa in front-line GBM patients. The planned two-arm, randomized, controlled study will evaluate Azixa in combination with standard of care temozolomide compared to temozolomide alone.
About Azixa (verubulin or MPC-6827)
Azixa is the lead product candidate under development by Myrexis for the treatment of primary brain cancers. Azixa is a novel small molecule that acts as a microtubule destabilizing agent, causing an arrest of cell division with subsequent programmed cell death, or apoptosis, in cancer cells. Several currently marketed clinically effective drugs share the identical mechanism of action. Importantly, however, Azixa has two unique, distinguishing characteristics. In non-clinical studies, Azixa has demonstrated the ability to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain at levels as much as 30 times that measured in the plasma. In addition, Azixa does not appear to be subject to multiple drug resistance (MDR) mechanisms.
In June of 2010, Myrexis presented data from two Phase 2a clinical studies that demonstrated Azixa, in combination with standard chemotherapy, resulted in durable responses with no additive toxicity in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and metastatic melanoma.
About Myrexis, Inc.
Myrexis, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for cancer. The Company has leveraged a unique understanding of the genetic causes of human disease to generate a strong pipeline of clinical and preclinical product candidates. These include compounds with distinct mechanisms of action and novel chemical structures that have first-in-class and/or best-in-class therapeutic potential. Myrexis is led by an experienced management team with expertise in human genetics, protein-protein interaction technology, chemical proteomic drug discovery and clinical and commercial development.
For more information, please visit www.myrexis.com.
Azixa, Myrexis and the Myrexis logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myrexis, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries. Avastin is a registered trademark of Genentech, Inc.
The Myrexis, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6327
Forward-looking statement safe harbor
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the attributes, expected development, and potential efficacy of Myrexis' product candidate Azixa (MPC-6827). These "forward-looking statements" are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Myrexis' Form 10-K, for the year ended June 30, 2010, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 13, 2010, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in Myrexis' Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myrexis undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.