Paris, 10 June 2020, 9pm
Results from AB8939 preclinical program in acute myeloid leukemia presented at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2020 Annual Congress
AB Science SA (Euronext - FR0010557264 - AB) today announces that an abstract reporting results from its AB8939 preclinical development program in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), is to be presented as an e-Poster at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2020 Annual Congress.
Entitled, ‘AB8939, a Novel Microtubule-Destabilizing Agent for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia’, this e-Poster presentation will be made available on the on-demand Virtual Congress platform as of Friday, June 12 at 08:30 CEST and will be accessible until October 15, 2020.
The Annual Congress of EHA is a flagship meeting that encompasses the entire spectrum of hematological studies. The Annual Congress regularly attracts 11,000 participants and experts from across the globe. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, EHA will deliver this year’s Congress as a Virtual Edition, consisting of pre-recorded content. The virtual congress program can be viewed via the following link: https://ehaweb.org/congress/eha25/program/.
The therapeutic potential of AB8939 in AML is demonstrated using Ara-C resistant and azacitidine resistant patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Ara-C is considered the clinically most relevant cytotoxic agent for AML treatment, while azacitidine is a widely used hypomethylating agent for AML.
“Overall, these results support development of AB8939 as a treatment of relapsed/refractory AML patients unable to receive intensive chemotherapy, which is a particularly vulnerable group with a high unmet medical need” commented Professor Olivier Hermine (lead author of the abstract and member of the Académie des Sciences in France). “Important mechanisms of action for AB8939 in AML are that it can overcome P-glycoprotein mediated resistance and, remarkably for a microtubule inhibitor, it is not deactivated by the myeloperoxidase (MPO) myeloid enzyme.”
Key findings include:
- AB8939 overcomes P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) mediated resistance
- AB8939 is active in Ara-C resistant/refractory AML, with activity seen across all AML subtypes
- AB8939 alone or combined with Ara-C, improved survival and reduced disease burden relative to Ara-C alone
- AB8939 is active in azacitidine resistant AML, with greatly reduced hematotoxicity relative to azacitidine
About AB8939
AB8939 is a novel microtubule destabilizing agent that is differentiated from other drugs of this class primarily by its inability to be transported by P-glycoprotein, thereby having potential to overcome Pgp-dependent multidrug resistance in cancer patients.
About AB Science
Founded in 2001, AB Science is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and commercialization of protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs), a class of targeted proteins whose action are key in signaling pathways within cells. Our programs target only diseases with high unmet medical needs, often lethal with short term survival or rare or refractory to previous line of treatment.
AB Science has developed a proprietary portfolio of molecules and the Company’s lead compound, masitinib, has already been registered for veterinary medicine and is developed in human medicine in oncology, neurological diseases, and inflammatory diseases. The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and listed on Euronext Paris (ticker: AB).
Further information is available on AB Science’s website: www.ab-science.com.
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AB Science
Financial Communication & Media Relations
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