SAN
DIEGO, April 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/
-- Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTRA) ("Kintara"
or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the
development of new solid tumor cancer therapies, today announces
that it has presented data at the 2022 American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Data Presentation:
Track 24: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics
Session PO.ET02.01 - Mechanisms of Drug Action 1
1843 / 15 - Dianhydrogalactitol (VAL-083) for the Treatment
of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM): Impact of Glucose Transporters
for Crossing the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB)
(Presentation Time: Monday, April
11, 2022 - 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
CT)
Enhanced drug concentrations of VAL-083 in the brain and GBM
brain tumors in comparison to circulating plasma concentrations
have been observed in human clinical trials. Most therapeutic
agents targeting brain tumors have very limited access to primary
brain tumors due to the protective nature of the BBB that limits
access for most chemical structures.
VAL-083 shares structural and molecular similarities to glucose
including low molecular weight and high water solubility. Glucose
transporters, in particular GLUT1, are overexpressed by the BBB
since the brain requires very high concentrations of glucose for
metabolism. Laboratory studies presented at the meeting assessed
whether glucose transporters are involved in the ability of VAL-083
to cross the BBB.
Three glucose transporters were studied in vitro
including SGLT1, SGLT2 and GLUT1. For all three transporters
VAL-083 was not a substrate for these active transport systems.
This suggests that VAL-083 may be crossing the BBB by passive
diffusion rather than facilitated active transport.
VAL-083 has some physical chemical parameters that differ from
glucose. These include increased lipophilicity (log P) and a
significantly lower polar surface area (PSA) (lower surface charge)
which may allow for relatively unencumbered passive diffusion
across the lipid cell membranes of the BBB as well as GBM tumor
cells. This independence for the need for specific active drug
transporters may help to explain the enhanced drug concentrations
of VAL-083 observed clinically in GBM.
"These results are extremely important," said Dennis Brown, Ph.D., Kintara's Chief Scientific
Officer. "We thought that since there were numerous structural
similarities between VAL-083 and glucose that perhaps a specialized
glucose transporter could explain the favorable brain concentration
demonstrated clinically for VAL-083. It appears that other
molecular features like PSA and log P may account for the very
unique pharmacologic properties we are observing. This suggests
that the clinical pharmacokinetics of VAL-083 would result in less
inter- and intra-patient variability in CNS penetration and,
therefore, greater precision of drug dosing to the brain.
About Kintara
Located in San
Diego, California, Kintara is dedicated to the development
of novel cancer therapies for patients with unmet medical needs.
Kintara is developing two late-stage, Phase 3-ready therapeutics
for clear unmet medical needs with reduced risk development
programs. The two programs are VAL-083 for GBM and REM-001 for
Cutaneous Metastatic Breast Cancer (CMBC).
VAL-083 is a "first-in-class," small-molecule
chemotherapeutic with a novel mechanism of action that has
demonstrated clinical activity against a range of cancers,
including central nervous system, ovarian and other solid tumors
(e.g., NSCLC, bladder cancer, head and neck) in U.S. clinical
trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Based on
Kintara's internal research programs and these
prior NCI-sponsored clinical studies, Kintara is
currently advancing VAL-083 in the GBM AGILE study to support the
development and commercialization of VAL-083 in GBM.
Kintara is also advancing its proprietary, late-stage
photodynamic therapy platform that holds promise as a localized
cutaneous, or visceral, tumor treatment as well as in other
potential indications. REM-001 therapy has been previously
studied in four Phase 2/3 clinical trials in patients with CMBC who
had previously received chemotherapy and/or failed radiation
therapy. With clinical efficacy to date of 80% complete responses
of CMBC evaluable lesions, and with an existing robust safety
database of approximately 1,100 patients across multiple
indications, Kintara is advancing the REM-001 CMBC
program to late-stage pivotal testing.
For more information, please visit www.kintara.com or
follow us on Twitter
at @Kintara_Thera, Facebook and LinkedIn.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Any statements contained in this press release that do not
describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements
as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995, including statements regarding the status of the
Company's clinical trials and the GBM AGILE study. Any
forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current
expectations but are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results
to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not
limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's operations and clinical trials;
the Company's ability to develop, market and sell products based on
its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's
products and technology; the availability of substantial additional
funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct
research and development, clinical studies and future product
commercialization; and, the Company's business, research, product
development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans
and strategies. These and other factors are identified and
described in more detail in the Company's filings with the SEC,
including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended June 30, 2021, the Company's
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and the Company's Current Reports
on Form 8-K.
CONTACTS
Investors:
CORE IR
516-222-2560
ir@coreir.com
Media:
Jules Abraham
CORE IR
917-885-7378
julesa@coreir.com
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SOURCE Kintara Therapeutics