WINNIPEG, Manitoba and PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 4, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viventia Bio Inc., a late clinical-stage company advancing a broad pipeline of novel anti-cancer agents, announced that Gregory P. Adams, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer, delivered the keynote presentation ("Targeted Protein Therapeutics (TPTs) for the Treatment of Cancer") at the PEGS Korea 2015 Protein and Antibody Engineering Summit, held this week in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Dr. Adams reviewed the Company's substantial progress in advancing its proprietary TPT programs into late-stage clinical testing, as well as earlier-stage programs.
Viventia has initiated its Phase III clinical trial for Vicinium™, which is being developed for subjects with high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), and is preparing its Phase III study for Proxinium for the treatment of late-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the head & neck (SCCHN). These products consist of a single chain EpCAM-targeting Fab antibody fragment genetically fused to a truncated Pseudomonas exotoxin, or exotoxin A (ETA), a cytotoxic payload. These products target and bind to cancer cells expressing EpCAM, a protein exclusively associated with epithelium and overexpressed on many epithelial cancers. Once bound, Vicinium and Proxinium are internalized and migrate within the cancer cell, where the cytotoxic payload dissociates from the single chain fragment and is then able to exert its cell-killing activity.
By incorporating antibody fragments, Viventia's TPTs are designed for a high degree of target specificity in contrast to existing cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, which broadly target cells (both cancer and normal) that have increased mitotic rates, or kinase inhibitors, which can have impacts on off-target kinases. Viventia's TPTs also have been designed to overcome the primary challenges experienced by existing antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), which are frequently associated with poor serum stability, susceptibility to multi-drug resistance, and decreased efficacy against slowly proliferating cancer cell populations. In contrast, Viventia's TPTs have demonstrated tumor targeting and cancer cell-killing properties, as well as linker stability and efficient manufacturing.
Additional key programs in Viventia's development pipeline include earlier-stage programs advancing de-immunized, systemic anti-cancer TPT product candidates. VB6-845d is a recombinant protein comprising antibody fragment genetically fused to deBouganin, a de-immunized form of the plant toxin Bouganin. deBouganin is a de-immunized cytotoxic payload specifically designed for use in systemic product candidates.
Dr. Adams stated, "We're pleased to have reported the broad scope of our TPT programs at this year's PEGS Korea meeting, considered one of the industry's leading events focused on protein and antibody engineering. We believe this was a unique venue to highlight our TPT platform and the expected progress of our programs through the first part of next year." Dr. Adams continued, "Based on the current progress and results, we believe our product candidates hold great potential in addressing significant unmet needs for patients with cancer."
"I am very proud of our team's accomplishments and of the accelerated momentum at the Company," stated Stephen Hurly, Chief Executive Officer of Viventia. "We are excited by the prospect of our upcoming clinical trials, which will provide further validation for our TPTs in treating a range of cancer indications."
About Viventia Bio
Viventia Bio is a late clinical-stage company advancing a broad pipeline of novel anti-cancer agents based on the Company's Targeted Protein Therapeutics (TPTs) platform. Our TPTs genetically combine antibody-based fragments with protein toxin payloads to create a single protein molecule through the Company's proprietary one-step manufacturing process. The Company believes its TPTs can potentially offer significant advantages in treating cancer versus earlier targeted therapies, including in tumor targeting and cancer cell-killing properties through the utilization of protein payloads versus small molecules and the ability to trigger an anti-tumor immune response, as well as enhanced linker stability and more efficient manufacturing.