SAN DIEGO, May 5, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Angstrom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Angstrom" or the "Company") announced today the activation of a clinical trial titled, "A Phase 2 Trial to Determine the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of A6, a CD44 Binding Peptide, for the Treatment of Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia."
Information about the clinical trial is available and can be accessed through the Company's website: www.angstrominc.com
Dr. Malcolm Finlayson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Angstrom, commented, "We are very excited about the evaluation of A6 for the treatment of patients with CLL. This is a 20 patient Phase 2 open label study being conducted at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. The CLL trial was borne out of research conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Kipps at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Results from that research were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in April and showed that A6 exhibited a significant cytotoxic effect against CLL cells isolated from patient samples, while having negligible toxicity against B cell samples from healthy individuals."
The A6 AACR abstract can be accessed through the Company's website: www.angstrominc.com
About Angstrom Pharmaceuticals
Angstrom Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical company headquartered in Solana Beach, California, is developing a new class of drugs targeting CD44 for the treatment of metastatic diseases and hematological malignancies. Angstrom's lead product, A6 peptide, is in Phase 2 clinical development for ovarian cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
About Angstrom's A6 Peptide Technology
A6 is a stable, 8 L-amino acid capped peptide. Preclinical studies have shown that A6 binds to the cell surface receptor CD44 resulting in the inhibition of cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis. CD44 is known to be present in many types of cancer and has been reported as a marker for cancer stem cells. A6 also suppresses tumor growth, increases survival, and acts synergistically with chemotherapeutic agents in xenograft models. In animal studies A6 has been shown to have no dose-limiting toxicity and consistently exhibits an excellent safety profile. A6 has demonstrated safety and efficacy in Phase 1 and 2 trials in patients with ovarian cancer.
Angstrom Pharmaceuticals' Forward-Looking Statement Safe Harbor
Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, as amended: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein.