NEW YORK, May 7, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AV Therapeutics, Inc. ("AV Therapeutics" or the "Company") (OTCQB:AVTH), a developer of cancer therapeutics and vaccines, announced Howard Scher, MD, Chief, Genitourinary Oncology Service and D. Wayne Calloway Chair in Urologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, reaffirmed his commitment to lead AV Therapeutics' Phase I clinical trial for its prostate cancer immunotherapy drug, Capridine-β.
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men in the U.S. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 233,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and approximately 29,480 men will die of prostate cancer in the U.S. in 2014.
Addressing a $2 billion market for treatment of prostate cancer in the U.S., AV Therapeutics' Capridine-β is a patented chemotherapy drug that belongs to a class of compounds tested by the National Cancer Institute, with research funded by the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. DavosPharma, the leading provider of discovery, chemistry, and formulation services for emerging biotechs and established multinationals, is currently manufacturing Capridine-β in preparation for the upcoming clinical trials.
The clinical trials for AV Therapeutics' Capridine-β will be conducted in collaboration with the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium ("PCCTC"), which is comprised of 13 leading cancer centers, including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; The Johns Hopkins University, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center; MD Anderson Cancer Center; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Duke University Cancer Center; and others. The PCCTC was formed to rapidly and efficiently develop promising prostate cancer therapies and provides the pharmaceutical industry with scientific guidance on clinical trial design, helping to reduce the time needed to move a drug candidate from discovery to clinical investigation. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, under the leadership of Dr. Scher, serves as the Coordinating Center for the PCCTC.
Dr. Scher previously led the highly successful trials for Medivation Inc.'s (Nasdaq:MDVN) Xtandi, an FDA-approved treatment for prostate cancer.
"The fact that Dr. Scher is willing to lead our Phase I trial is significant," stated Dr. Abraham Mittleman, Chairman of AV Therapeutics. "The depth of expertise and experience his team brings to AV Therapeutics, particularly in regards to running clinical trials for prostate cancer drugs, is of great merit."
About AV Therapeutics, Inc.
AV Therapeutics, Inc. is engaged in the business of developing cancer therapeutics and immunotherapeutic vaccines that can be used alone or in combination with prevalent treatment modalities such as chemotherapy and radiation to treat active disease and to prevent metastases and recurrence. The Company's immune-therapeutics is based on the ability of certain proprietary reagents to re-educate or reprogram an immune system that can target previously unidentified micro-metastases. The Company intends to clinically develop both of these approaches for metastatic and early-stage prostate cancer.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development, and potential opportunities for AV Therapeutic (the "Company") products and services, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited, to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights and other risks discussed in the Company's registration statement on Form S-1 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission which is available for review at www.sec.gov. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the Company's business. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.