LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CytRx
Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and
development company specializing in oncology, today highlighted
that key emerging cancer treatment trends by Big Pharma, including
combining immunotherapy with effective chemotherapy regimens, are
resulting in significant advancements for the treatment of patients
with high unmet medical need types of cancer. CytRx, along
with its wholly owned subsidiary Centurion Biopharma, believe these
trends strengthen and enhance the value proposition for their
rationally designed albumin binding ultra-high potency anti-cancer
agents.
Aldoxorubicin in Combination with High Affinity Natural
Killer (haNK) Cells
Aldoxorubicin, CytRx's first albumin binding cytotoxic agent,
was designed to increase the efficacy and overcome the cardiotoxic
side effects of the anthracycline agent doxorubicin. In its
clinical trials, aldoxorubicin demonstrated a significant
improvement in progression-free survival compared to investigator's
choice therapy in patients with certain types of soft tissue
sarcoma. The rights to aldoxorubicin were acquired by
NantCell, Inc. in 2017, and aldoxorubicin is now being investigated
in clinical trials in combination with immunotherapy or NantCell's
high-affinity natural killer (haNK) cell therapy in certain high
unmet need cancer indications, including advanced squamous cell
carcinoma, metastatic pancreatic and triple negative breast
cancers.
"Among the most compelling recent medical advances by Big Pharma
has been the efficacy seen when immunotherapy is combined with
chemotherapy, especially in certain high unmet medical need cancers
such as non-small cell lung and triple negative breast cancers,"
said Eric Curtis, CytRx's President
and Chief Operating Officer. "In addition to finding better
treatments for these patients, there is an equally urgent need for
better cytotoxic agents, ones that can be administered in higher
doses while avoiding the commonly associated toxicities.
Aldoxorubicin was important to our pipeline because it achieved
validating proof of concept for the albumin binding thesis and we
believe that its target-specific drug delivery properties have the
potential to enhance the effects of immunotherapy."
LADR™ Drug Candidates in Combination with
Immunotherapy
Centurion BioPharma's LADR™ (Linker Activated Drug Release)
technology employs a broad portfolio of novel linker molecules that
selectively bind to circulating albumin and have the ability to be
linked to a wide variety of anti-cancer payloads. Centurion's
LADR™ drug candidates, LADR-7, LADR-8, LADR-9 and LADR-10, utilize
the anti-cancer agents maytansine and auristatin E to maximize
tumor cell kill potential while minimizing systemic toxicity.
Centurion believes these agents have the potential to be combined
with immunotherapies to improve the efficacy and safety of
treatments for cancers that have typically been difficult to
treat. At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
2018 Annual Meeting, scientific research was presented which
described the breakthrough data supporting Centurion's selection of
its current LADR assets for advancement toward Investigational New
Drug-enabling studies. These targeted compounds demonstrated
excellent, long-term antitumor activity across a wide range of
human solid tumor cancer types, including lung, breast, ovarian,
head and neck, renal cell, and melanoma.
"The approach of combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy or
targeted agents is clearly becoming the 'wave of the future' for
the treatment of cancer and Big Pharma are leading these
breakthroughs. Centurion and CytRx are thrilled to be a part
of this emerging movement," concluded Mr. Curtis.
About Centurion BioPharma Corporation
CytRx's wholly owned subsidiary, Centurion BioPharma
Corporation, is focused on the development of personalized medicine
that will transform solid tumor treatment. This transformational
strategy combines a portfolio of novel, anti-cancer drug candidates
that employ LADR™ (Linker Activated Drug Release) technology, a
discovery engine designed to leverage Centurion's expertise in
albumin biology and linker technology for the development of a new
class of breakthrough anti-cancer therapies with a unique albumin
companion diagnostic (ACDx) that can help identify patients who are
most likely to benefit from treatment with the LADR™-derived
therapies. A critical element of the LADR™ platform is its ability
to bind anti-cancer molecules to circulating 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.
About CytRx Corporation
CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) is a biopharmaceutical
company with expertise in discovering and developing new
therapeutics to treat patients with cancer. CytRx's most
advanced drug conjugate, aldoxorubicin, is an improved version of
the widely used anti-cancer drug doxorubicin and has been
out-licensed to NantCell, Inc. In
addition, CytRx's other drug candidate, arimoclomol has
been out-licensed to Orphazyme A/S (Nasdaq Copenhagen
exchange). Orphazyme is testing arimoclomol in four
indications including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),
Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NPC), Gaucher disease and sporadic
Inclusion Body Myositis (sIBM).
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from the events or results
described in the forward-looking statements, including risks and
uncertainties relating to the continued use and growth of
immunotherapy drugs by Big Pharma, the ability of NantCell,
Inc., to obtain regulatory approval for its products that use
aldoxorubicin; the ability of NantCell, Inc., to manufacture
and commercialize products or therapies that use aldoxorubicin; the
amount, if any, of future milestone and royalty payments that we
may receive from NantCell, Inc.; risks and uncertainties
relating to the ability of Orphazyme A/S to obtain regulatory
approval for its products that use arimoclomol; the ability
of Orphazyme A/S to manufacture and commercialize products or
therapies that use arimoclomol; the amount, if any, of future
milestone and royalty payments that we may receive
from Orphazyme A/S; Centurion BioPharma
Corporation's ability to develop new ultra-high potency drug
candidates based on its LADR™ technology platform; our ability to
attract potential licensees; and other risks and uncertainties
described in the most recent annual and quarterly reports filed
by CytRx with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and current reports filed since the date
of CytRx's most recent annual report. All forward-looking
statements are based upon information available
to CytRx on the date the statements are first
published. CytRx undertakes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Relations Contact:
Argot Partners
Michelle Carroll
(212) 600-1902
michelle@argotpartners.com
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SOURCE CytRx Corporation