HOUSTON, Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Moleculin
Biotech, Inc., (Nasdaq: MBRX) ("Moleculin" or the "Company"), a
clinical stage pharmaceutical company with a broad portfolio of
drug candidates targeting highly resistant tumors, announced it has
begun preclinical testing of its drug candidate, WP1122, which it
believes may present a new approach to treating highly glycolytic
tumors like pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma.
"WP1122 represents an opportunity to attack the metabolism of
cancer by exploiting the Warburg principle, which explains that
some tumors are highly dependent on glycolysis, a specific
metabolism of glucose, for growth and survival," commented
Walter Klemp, Moleculin's Chairman
and CEO. "What this means in practice is that tumors are
vulnerable by being highly dependent on glucose availability.
Cancer cells often consume up to 18 times as much glucose as
their healthy normal cells' neighbors, suggesting that we may be
able to starve tumors by supplying them with glucose decoys that
would inhibit glucose-based energy production. However, until
the creation of WP1122, glucose decoys like 2-deoxy-D-glucose
('2-DG') lacked the drug-like properties to be effective, primarily
because of rapid metabolism and a very short circulation time in
the body, which then limits desired organ and tumor uptake."
Dr. Don Picker, Chief Science
Officer for Moleculin, added: "WP1122 is a prodrug of 2-DG that has
been shown in animal models to significantly increase the half-life
of 2-DG and allows for increased uptake to targeted organs and
tumors like the brain tumors and pancreatic cancer. Recent
discoveries now also suggest that such a glucose decoy could
critically impact a process known as glycosylation and glycan
formation and that this type of activity can directly impact
the function of PD-L1, enabling increased immune system response to
cancer cells. We have been working on the clinical formulation of
WP1122 for some time, and we are eager to now be taking the next
key steps to getting WP1122 into the clinic."
About Moleculin Biotech, Inc.
Moleculin Biotech, Inc. is a clinical stage pharmaceutical
company focused on the development of a broad portfolio of oncology
drug candidates for the treatment of highly resistant tumors. The
Company's clinical stage drugs are: Annamycin, a Next Generation
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, WP1066, an Immune/Transcription Modulator
capable of inhibiting p-STAT3 and other oncogenic transcription
factors while also stimulating a natural immune response, targeting
brain tumors, pancreatic cancer and hematologic malignancies, and
WP1220, an analog to WP1066, for the topical treatment of cutaneous
T-cell lymphoma. Moleculin is also engaged in preclinical
development of additional drug candidates, including additional
Immune/Transcription Modulators, as well as compounds capable of
Metabolism/Glycosylation Inhibition.
For more information about the Company, please visit
http://www.moleculin.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this release are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve
risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this press
release include, without limitation, the ability of WP1122 to show
safety and efficacy in patients. Although Moleculin believes that
the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable as of the date made, expectations may prove to have been
materially different from the results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Moleculin Biotech has attempted to
identify forward-looking statements by terminology including
''believes,'' ''estimates,'' ''anticipates,'' ''expects,''
''plans,'' ''projects,'' ''intends,'' ''potential,'' ''may,''
''could,'' ''might,'' ''will,'' ''should,'' ''approximately'' or
other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to
identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are
only predictions and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, and other factors, including those discussed under
Item 1A. "Risk Factors" in our most recently filed Form 10-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and updated
from time to time in our Form 10-Q filings and in our other public
filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements
contained in this release speak only as of its date. We undertake
no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in
this release to reflect events or circumstances occurring after its
date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. The
Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the
interim results announced today.
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SOURCE Moleculin Biotech, Inc.