LADR™ Technology May Successfully Harness Potential of Known, Efficacious Anti-Cancer Compounds Whose Development Has Been Impeded
CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a Los Angeles-based biopharmaceutical research and development company specializing in oncology, recently selected four new investigational-stage Linker-Activated Drug Release (LADR™) candidates for advancement toward clinical testing in cancer patients. At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, which was held in Chicago on April 14-18, 2018, CytRx presented statistically significant breakthrough data for its albumin-binding ultra-high-potency LADR™ drug candidates. The candidates, preliminarily named LADR-7 (AE-Keto-Sulf07), LADR-8 (AE-Ester-Sulf07), LADR-9 (PP072) and LADR-10 (FN296), were created using CytRx’s novel LADR™ technology, which enables drug compounds to bind to albumin in patients’ bloodstreams and controls drug release at the tumor site. All four of the drug candidates have proven eligible to advance into Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies, with the goal in 2018 of filing IND applications on one or more of the candidates.
“The goal of our ongoing research is to utilize CytRx’s unique LADR™ technology to harness the power and potential of known, efficacious anti-cancer compounds where development has been impeded due to systemic toxicity,” said Felix Kratz, PhD, CytRx Corporation’s Vice President of Drug Discovery. “A critical element of the LADR™ platform is its ability to bind anti-cancer molecules to albumin, the most ubiquitous protein in human blood plasma, and then to release the highly potent cytotoxic payload at the tumor site. This technology allows for the delivery of higher doses of drug directly to the tumor, while avoiding much of the off-target toxicity observed with the parent molecules.”
The posters presented at the AACR Annual Meeting highlighted the positive scientific findings that led to CytRx’s decision to select auristatin E (AE) derivatives LADR-7 and LADR-8, and maytansine derivatives LADR-9 and LADR-10, as the next LADR™ candidates eligible to advance toward IND-enabling studies. According to Kratz, the compounds demonstrate excellent long-term anti-tumor activity across a wide range of human solid tumor cancer types, including lung, breast, ovarian, head and neck, renal cell, and melanoma cancers.
In upcoming news, CytRx Corporation is presenting at the NYC Oncology Investor Conference, occurring on May 8-9 at the office of Wilson Sonsini in New York City. Learn more and register to attend the conference at www.nyconcologyconference.com.
Categories: Ideas & Technologies
