CDX Antibody is Effective against ALL in vitro

RNS Number : 5347A

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC

30 May 2019

 

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc

("Hemogenyx" or the "Company")

CDX Antibody is Effective against ALL in vitro

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc (LSE: HEMO) announces the first data results from in vitro testing of its CDX bi-specific antibody ("CDX antibody") product candidate for the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia ("ALL"), a form of blood cancer.

The first data results demonstrate that the CDX antibody is capable of eliminating a subset of ALL cells in vitro. The CDX antibody was shown to target ALL cells that contain mixed-lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1) gene rearrangements and overexpress the protein FLT3. CDX binds to the FLT3 protein that is located on the surface of unwanted (target) cells, binds to the CD3 protein on the surface of T-cells, and ultimately redirects T-cells to kill the target cells. The Company is planning to verify the efficacy of CDX against ALL in vivo in the near future, using its proprietary advanced hematopoietic chimeric ("AHC") mice and similar testing to that which the Company used to demonstrate the efficacy of CDX against AML.

Background on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

ALL is an aggressive form of blood cancer that affects both children and adults. While the prognosis for pediatric patients is generally good (80-90% survival), the prognosis for patients over 60 years of age remains very poor, with survival rates of only 10-15%. It is estimated that the value of the global therapeutic market for ALL was about $1.5B in 2016 with about $500M in the US alone.

Vladislav Sandler, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are encouraged by this new data which demonstrates our continuing progress in the development and potential uses of our CDX antibody and the widening range of conditions to which it may be applicable. We previously demonstrated that CDX antibody may be effective in treating acute myeloid leukemia ("AML"), another type of aggressive blood cancer. This antibody should, if successful, provide a new and potentially effective treatment for a form of blood cancer for which adult survival rates are currently very poor." 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

Enquiries:

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc	www.hemogenyx.com
Dr Vladislav Sandler, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder	[e-mail]
Sir Marc Feldmann, Executive Chairman
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Matthew Johnson, Vadim Alexandre, Soltan Tagiev
Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited	Tel: [phone]
Lucy Williams, Duncan Vasey
US Media enquiries	Tel: [phone]
Lowell Goodman	[e-mail]

About Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc

Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals plc ("Hemogenyx") is a publicly traded company (LSE: HEMO) headquartered in London, with its wholly-owned US operating subsidiaries, Hemogenyx LLC and Immugenyx LLC, located in New York City at its state-of-the-art research facility and a wholly-owned Belgian operating subsidiary, Hemogenyx-Cell SPRL, located in Liège.

Hemogenyx is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical group developing new medicines and treatments to bring the curative power of bone marrow transplantation to a greater number of patients suffering from otherwise incurable life-threatening diseases. Hemogenyx is developing two distinct and complementary products, as well as a platform technology that it uses as an engine for novel product development.

For more than 50 years, bone marrow transplantation has been used to save the lives of patients suffering from blood diseases. The risks of toxicity and death that are associated with bone marrow transplantation, however, have meant that the procedure is restricted to use only as a last resort. Hemogenyx's technology has the potential to enable many more patients suffering from devastating blood diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as severe autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, aplastic anemia and systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus), to benefit from bone marrow transplantation.

 

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