Moleculin Announces New Independent Study Expands Potential Use of Its Pancreatic Drug Candidate
Moleculin Biotech, Inc. recently announced that a new mechanism of action may have been uncovered expanding the potential use of its inhibitor of glycolysis, WP1122.
A study recently published in the American Cancer Journal of Cancer Research (Am J Cancer Res 2018;8(9):1837-1846) involving researchers at MD Anderson and the Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute has found that 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) has the potential to decrease resistance to immune checkpoint blockade therapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) in a process known as “glycosylation.”
“This study provides a strong rationale for targeting glycosylation with 2-DG in order to improve outcomes for TNBC,” said Dr. Donald Picker, Moleculin’s Chief Science Officer. “Historically, 2-DG hasn’t been successfully developed into a drug because of its lack of drug-like properties, including a very short half-life. Fortunately, based on preclinical data, WP1122, a proprietary prodrug of 2-DG, appears to address that problem and significantly increases the circulation time of 2-DG and its ability to reach specific organs harboring tumors, including the pancreas.”
Walter Klemp, Moleculin’s Chairman and CEO, added “The timing of this discovery is perfect for us. We were already pushing forward with IND-enabling preclinical testing of WP1122 for use in brain tumors and pancreatic cancer and now we see a significant expansion of its potential uses.”
Moleculin Biotech, Inc. is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of oncology drug candidates, all of which are based on discoveries made at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The company’s clinical-stage drugs are Annamycin, an anthracycline designed to avoid multidrug resistance mechanisms with little to no cardiotoxicity being studied for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, more commonly referred to as AML, and WP1066, an immuno-stimulating STAT3 inhibitor targeting brain tumors, pancreatic cancer, and AML. Moleculin Biotech is also engaged in preclinical development of additional drug candidates, including additional STAT3 inhibitors and compounds targeting the metabolism of tumors. For more information, visit http://www.moleculin.com.
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