DALLAS, May 6, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arog Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Founder and Chief Executive Officer Vinay Jain, M.D., will present at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 Global Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, May 12 at 5:00 p.m. PT in Las Vegas, NV.
A live webcast of the presentation can be accessed by visiting the News & Events section of the company's website, http://www.arogpharma.com/news-events. A replay will also be archived on the website and available for 90 days.
About Arog Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Arog Pharmaceuticals is a private, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that has leveraged its platform of benzimidazole derivatives to develop a robust drug pipeline of orally available, potent, and selective small molecule type I kinase inhibitors. Arog is poised to enroll patients in pivotal registration, randomized Phase III trials of its lead molecule, crenolanib in the near future. In addition to the four clinical trials it has already completed, Arog is also engaged in additional phase II studies and three ongoing clinical trials. For more information, please visit the company's website, http://www.arogpharma.com.
About Crenolanib
Arog's lead molecule, crenolanib, is currently being clinically investigated as a treatment for multiple cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), glioma, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is an orally bioavailable benzamidazole type I kinase inhibitor that selectively and potently inhibits signaling of wild-type and mutant isoforms of class III receptor tyrosine kinases FLT3 and PDGFRα/β. This molecule has an established record of patient safety and has been used to treat over 250 patients from around the world.
About FLT3
FLT-3 is a class III receptor tyrosine kinase, and its signaling is considered important for the normal development of haematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells. The FLT-3 gene is one of the most frequently mutated genes (~35%) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). One such mutation, internal tandem duplications of FLT-3 (FLT3-ITD), is a prognostic indicator associated with adverse disease outcome.
About PDGFRα/β
Platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFR) α and β are cell surface tyrosine kinase receptors and are important factors regulating cell proliferation and cell development, as well as several diseases, including cancers like brain tumors and sarcomas. In clinical tests, crenolanib has been shown to inhibit both PDGFR α and β phosphorylation, thus preventing downstream signaling.