Aegera Therapeutics Acquires Clinical Stage Oncology Company and Closes Concurrent Financing

10-Aug-2007

Aegera Therapeutics announced the acquisition of LymphoSign Inc. and its clinical oncology program LS104, a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor in Phase 1 clinical trials for acute myelogenous leukemia and other myeloproliferative disorders. Approved by both U.S. and European regulatory authorities, dosing of the first patient in the initial Phase I clinical trial for LS104 was initiated in May 2007. Concurrently with the closing of the transaction, several current shareholders invested additional funds in Aegera's previously disclosed Series C financing.

"This acquisition is a first step in an aggressive plan to build significant shareholder value in the near term by adding to our clinical development pipeline and positioning Aegera as an oncology development partner of choice, declared Mr. James Rae, Chairman, Aegera's Board of Directors. By the end of 2007, Aegera's development team will have successfully submitted four Investigational New Drug Applications ("INDs") for novel compounds over the last 36 months, and will initiate four Phase II clinical trials for its lead oncology program - AEG35156 - an extremely impressive record for any North American biotechnology company."

LS104 is a novel small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of therapeutically significant kinases including Jak2 and Bcr-Abl, being developed for the treatment of leukemia and other haematological malignancies and myeloproliferative disorders. In contrast to marketed kinase inhibitor drugs, LS104 inhibits its targets in a non-ATP-competitive manner which may be a significant advantage in treating cancers where resistance has arisen due to mutations in the ATP binding site. LS104 preferentially induces apoptosis of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells while being relatively non-toxic to normal bone marrow cells. The in vivo efficacy of LS104 has been demonstrated in animal models of acute leukemia resulting in increased survival and decreased blast counts in bone marrow.

Based on these positive findings, a US IND and a German CTA have been approved and LS104 is currently being tested in a Phase I, open-label, dose-escalating study alone and in combination with cytarabine in patients with haematological malignancies and myeloproliferative disorders.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/66954/aegera-therapeutics-acquires-clinical-stage-oncology-company-and-closes-concurrent-financing.html