CuraGen, TopoTarget present preclinical data on PXD101 at the AACR meeting

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., April 6 - CuraGen Corp. and TopoTarget A/S made two poster presentations of new preclinical data on PXD101, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington, D.C.

PXD101 is being evaluated in several phase 2 and phase 1b/2 clinical trials for the treatment of multiple myeloma, T-cell lymphomas, ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer, according to a news release.

In the first poster entitled, "Activity of the HDAC Inhibitor, PXD101, in Preclinical Lung Cancer Studies," preclinical results showed that PXD101 potently inhibited the growth of lung cancer cell lines in vitro and reduced the growth of human lung cancer in animal xenografts. PXD101 used in combination with erlotinib (Tarceva) caused greater tumor growth inhibition than did the respective monotherapies in animal xenografts of human lung cancer.

In a second poster presentation entitled, "Plasma and Cerebrospinal Fluid Pharmacokinetics of the Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Inhibitor, PXD101, in Non-Human Primates," researchers reported that PXD101 displayed a half-life of about one hour with cerebrospinal fluid penetration by PXD101 of approximately 1%. The results suggest that the concentration of PXD101 achieved in the CSF may be sufficient to inhibit the growth of certain cancers, the release stated.

"These preclinical studies continue to highlight the potential of PXD101, both as a single agent and in combination with currently used anti-cancer therapies," CuraGen president and chief executive officer Frank M. Armstrong said in the release.

Preliminary results from the studies are expected in mid-2006 and throughout 2007, officials said.

CuraGen is a biopharmaceutical company located in Branford, Conn., developing a pipeline of novel protein, antibody, and small molecule therapeutics.

TopoTarget (CSE: TOPO) is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company based in Denmark specializing in cancer therapies.

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