Mateon Announces Issuance of US Patent for Cathepsin Inhibition
October 10 2016 - 8:30AM
Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MATN), a biopharmaceutical
company developing vascular disrupting agents (VDAs) for the
treatment of orphan oncology indications, today announced that the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent 9,458,103
to Mateon and Baylor University for “Compositions and methods for
inhibition of cathepsins.” The patent covers compounds which
modulate cathepsin activity, particularly cathepsin L or cathepsin
K, and methods of using these compounds for the treatment of
conditions in which their regulation may be therapeutically useful.
“I am pleased to have this patent issued,” stated
William D. Schwieterman, M.D., President and Chief Executive
Officer of Mateon. “For the past few years we have been working
with Baylor University to pursue discovery and development of
novel, small-molecule therapeutics that may be effective in
oncology indications, and we are continuing several interesting,
early-stage opportunities in this field.”
Cathepsins have been validated as an important
enzymatic class to target in drug discovery research, and eleven
cysteine protease cathepsin enzymes have been identified to date in
humans, with different structures and functions. Cathepsin L has a
function in the growth and metastasis of primary tumors and has
been implicated in diabetes, immunological responses, degradation
of the articular cartilage matrix, and other pathological
processes, including osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Inhibition of cathepsin L has also been shown to block Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Ebola pseudotype virus infection.
Cathepsin K plays a role in bone resorption and has implications in
osteoporosis.
About MateonMateon Therapeutics, Inc. is a
biopharmaceutical company seeking to realize the full potential of
vascular targeted therapy (VTT) in oncology. VTT includes VDAs such
as the investigational drugs that Mateon is developing, and
anti-angiogenic agents (AAs), a number of which are FDA-approved
and widely used in cancer treatment. These two approaches have
distinct yet complementary mechanisms of action.
At Mateon, we believe that we can significantly
improve cancer therapy by employing these two complementary
approaches simultaneously. When utilized this way, VDAs obstruct
existing blood vessels in the tumor leading to significant central
tumor cell death while AAs prevent the formation of new tumor blood
vessels.
Mateon is committed to leveraging our intellectual
property and the product development expertise of our highly
skilled management team to enable VTT to realize its true potential
and to bring much-needed new therapies to cancer patients
worldwide.
Safe Harbor StatementThis news release contains
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any or all of the
forward-looking statements in this press release, which include the
timing of advancement, outcomes, data and regulatory guidance
relative to our clinical programs and achievement of our business
and financing objectives may turn out to be wrong. Forward-looking
statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions Mateon might
make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties, including, but
not limited to, the inherent risks of drug development,
manufacturing and regulatory review, and the availability of
additional financing to pursue and continue development of our
programs. Additional information concerning factors that could
cause actual results to materially differ from those in the
forward-looking statements is contained in Mateon's reports to the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including Mateon's reports on
Form 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. However, Mateon undertakes no obligation
to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether because of
new information, future events or otherwise. Please refer to our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2015.
Investors:
ir@mateon.com
650-635-7000
Media:
JPA Health Communications
Nic DiBella
nic@jpa.com
617-945-5183