Cellectar Biosciences Enters into Strategic Collaboration with Onconova Therapeutics to Develop New Phospholipid Drug Conjuga...
September 21 2017 - 8:30AM
Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLRB), an oncology-focused,
clinical stage biotechnology company (the “company”), and Onconova
Therapeutics (Nasdaq:ONTX) today announced that they have entered
into a strategic collaboration to develop new phospholipid drug
conjugates (PDCs) combining Cellectar’s patented phospholipid ether
delivery platform with select proprietary compounds or payloads
from Onconova’s early stage product pipeline. Newtown, Pa.-based
Onconova is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the
discovery and development of novel small molecule drug candidates
to treat cancer.
“Access to novel anti-tumor payloads is key to leveraging our
next generation PDC delivery platform technology for the discovery
of novel, proprietary targeted anti-cancer therapeutics,” said Jim
Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar Biosciences. “Onconova
is an established player in developing small molecule anti-cancer
compounds. Their unique early stage assets, development experience
and ability to successfully advance compounds into Phase 3 clinical
trials makes them an excellent partner for Cellectar.”
Under the terms of the collaboration, Onconova will provide
Cellectar with several compounds, including some from the family of
molecules that contains Briciclib, which is an EIF4E targeting
small molecule with early Phase 1 data. Cellectar will leverage its
expertise in early development and chemical conjugation to link the
molecules to its phospholipid ether (PDC platform) to create new,
more precisely targeted antitumor agents. Both companies will have
the option to advance the development of any of the newly
conjugated PDC molecules. Financial terms of the collaboration have
not been disclosed.
“We are focused on optimizing the delivery of our therapeutic
compounds in the battle against Myelodysplastic Syndrome and a
variety of cancers. As such, we are excited to collaborate with
Cellectar and leverage their PDC platform, which we believe can
improve the targeting of our molecules directly to the cancer, in
addition to extending the patent coverage of these drug
candidates,” said Ramesh Kumar, Ph.D., president and CEO of
Onconova Therapeutics.
About Phospholipid Drug Conjugates (PDCs)
Cellectar’s product candidates are built upon its patented cancer
cell-targeting delivery and retention platform of optimized
phospholipid ether-drug conjugates (PDCs). The company
deliberately designed its phospholipid ether (PLE) carrier platform
to be coupled with a variety of payloads to facilitate both
therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The basis for
selective tumor targeting of our PDC compounds lies in the
differences between the plasma membranes of cancer cells compared
to those of normal cells. Cancer cell membranes are highly
enriched in lipid rafts, which are glycolipoprotein microdomains of
the plasma membrane of cells that contain high concentrations of
cholesterol and sphingolipids, and serve to organize cell surface
and intracellular signaling molecules. PDCs have been tested in
more than 80 different xenograft models of cancer.
About Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. Cellectar
Biosciences is developing phospholipid drug conjugates (PDCs)
designed to provide cancer targeted delivery of diverse oncologic
payloads to a broad range of cancers and cancer stem cells.
Cellectar's PDC platform is based on the company's proprietary
phospholipid ether analogs. These novel small-molecules have
demonstrated highly selective uptake and retention in a broad range
of cancers. Cellectar's PDC pipeline includes product
candidates for cancer therapy and cancer diagnostic imaging.
The company's lead therapeutic PDC, CLR 131, utilizes iodine-131, a
cytotoxic radioisotope, as its payload. CLR 131 has been
designated as an orphan drug by the US FDA and is currently being
evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical study in patients with relapsed or
refractory multiple myeloma and a Phase 2 clinical study to assess
efficacy in a range of B-cell malignancies. The company
is also developing proprietary PDCs for targeted delivery of
chemotherapeutics and has several preclinical stage product
candidates, and plans to expand its PDC chemotherapeutic pipeline
through both in-house and collaborative R&D efforts. For
more information please visit www.cellectar.com. About
Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. is
a Phase 3-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering
and developing novel small molecule drug candidates to treat
cancer, with a primary focus on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).
Rigosertib, Onconova's lead candidate, is a proprietary Phase 3
small molecule agent, which the Company believes blocks cellular
signaling by targeting RAS effector pathways. Using a
proprietary chemistry platform, Onconova has created a pipeline of
targeted agents designed to work against specific cellular pathways
that are important in cancer cells, while causing minimal damage to
normal cells. Onconova has three product candidates in the clinical
stage and several pre-clinical programs. Advanced clinical trials
with the Company's lead compound, rigosertib, are aimed at what the
Company believes are unmet medical needs of patients with MDS. For
more information, please visit http://www.onconova.com.
This news release contains forward-looking
statements. You can identify these statements by our use of
words such as "may," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend,"
"could," "estimate," "continue," "plans," or their negatives or
cognates. These statements are only estimates and predictions
and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that
may cause actual future experience and results to differ materially
from the statements made. These statements are based on our
current beliefs and expectations as to such future outcomes.
Drug discovery and development involve a high degree of risk.
Factors that might cause such a material difference include, among
others, uncertainties related to the ability to raise additional
capital, uncertainties related to the ability to attract and retain
partners for our technologies, the identification of lead
compounds, the successful preclinical development thereof, the
completion of clinical trials, the FDA review process and other
government regulation, our pharmaceutical collaborators' ability to
successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates, competition
from other pharmaceutical companies, product pricing and
third-party reimbursement. A complete description of risks
and uncertainties related to our business is contained in our
periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2016. These forward-looking statements are made only as of
the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to update any such
forward-looking statements.
CONTACT for Cellectar: Jules Abraham JQA
Partners, Inc. 917-885-7378 jabraham@jqapartners.com
CONTACTS for Onconova Therapeutics General:
http://www.onconova.com/contact Investor Relations: Katja Buhrer
MBS Value Partners 212-661-7004 Katja.Buhrer@mbsvalue.com
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