2012
Oryzon to Present its LSD1 program in Acute Leukemias at the GTC's 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery conference in Boston
Oryzon announced today that Dr. Tamara Maes will present the latest advances of its LSD1 program in hematological malignancies at GTC's 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery conference in the session Drug Discovery in Epigenetics: on May 30-31 at the Hyatt Harborside in Boston, MA.
Dr. Maes' presentation will occur on May 30th at 16:45 pm under the title "Strong and specific LSD1 inhibitors for treatment of hematological malignancies". Drugs against LSD1 have been shown to be effective in the treatment of acute leukemia. These preclinical findings have been reported by two British independent groups in recent issues of Nature Medicine and Cancer Cell.
Molecules discovered and developed by Oryzon were efficient in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which represents 40% of all leukemias in humans, and especially an aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia called mixed lineage leukemia (MLL), pointing to a significant potential therapeutic window for the use of LSD1 inhibitors in the MLL molecular subtype of AMLs. Oryzon's scientists have shown also that LSD1 inhibition could also be efficacious in the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALLs), which represents 25% of juvenile leukemia, and in certain types of multiple myeloma and Chronic Lymphocytic leukemia. These promising results open new avenues to treat these cancers. Oryzon's drug discovery program in LSD1 has yielded enantiomerically pure, potent and selective LSD1 inhibitors that are >1000x stronger than ParnateTM (tranylcypromine), highly selective over related enzymes MAO-A/B, have excellent pharmacological characteristics and are active in vivo at doses of down to 0.05mpk. The company expects to move its compounds to Clinical Phase I/IIa early next year.
The GTC's 2nd Epigenetics in Drug Discovery conference brings together a mix of leading experts from the industry and academia and will have preeminent speakers as Dr. Craig C Mello, Nobel Laureate, who will talk about RNAi and Immortality, and Mr Steven Burrill, C.E.O. of Burrill&Company, who will discuss of Innovating in the New Austerity and Creative Dealmaking. The Drug Discovery in Epigenetics session will be chaired by Dr Quamrul Hassan, of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, who will give an overview of current trends to modulate Epigenetic Targets. In the same session, Dr. Rab Prinjha Vice President, Head of Epinova Epigenetics DPU (GlaxoSmithKline), Dr. Arthur M. Krieg Chief Executive Officer of RaNA Therapeutics and Dr.Claes Wahlestedt, Dean for Therapeutic Innovation from University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, will also present interesting aspects of the field.
Epigenetics is a hot spot field in the pharmaceutical industry. It is predicted that world revenues for epigenetic therapies and technologies will reach $2.73bn in 2015 and that the overall market will grow with a CAGR of 16% between 2010 and 2015. Therapies will remain the largest source of revenue in the epigenetics market. The deal activity on the field is intense.
Oryzon Genomics is the global leader in Histone Lysine Demethylases with an special emphasis on Lysine Specific Demethylases (LSD1 and LSD2). LSD1 is a flavin dependent amine oxidase capable of selective demethylation of Lys-4 of histone H3. LSD1 has been proposed as a target for oncology, viral diseases and neurodegeneration. Oryzon has a wide drug-discovery program on LSD1 with around 800 compounds. According to Carlos Buesa, C.E.O. of the company. "Oryzon's compounds are by far the most potent LSD1 inhibitors described, and we have identified now a subset of diseases in which this mechanism looks particularly efficient. The company has a dominant patent position in LSD1 with 19 patent applications and we are really happy to communicate to the Epigenetic community our progresses and the potential of LSD1 as therapeutic target in hematological cancers. For any company willing to play a role in these indications we are the partner of choice."
About Oryzon
Founded in 2000, Oryzon (www.oryzon.com) has one of the most complete technological platforms for biomarker identification in Europe. With a strong specialization in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics, the company identifies biomarkers for a variety of neoplasic and neurodegenerative diseases. The company has a powerful platform for biomarker and target validation which includes technologies such as RNAi, microarrays, phage display and a structural genomic platform with a fragment screening approach (NMR and X ray crystallography). Oryzon develops new drugs and monoclonal antibodies against targets identified in its biomarker discovery programs but also develops diagnostic products.
GynECDX is a good example of the Diagnostic activity of the company. This product was discovered after 5 years of intense research. It is a signature of 5 genes differentially expressed that are highly accurate to determine cancer status in uterine aspirates and when combined with pathology on aspirates has a Negative predictive value of 99,6% according to the results obtained in a recent multi-centric double blind prospective study. Commercialization of this product that has been developed jointly with Laboratorios Reig-Jofrí© is expected in 2Q 2012.
Other launches under way
Oryzon entered into a partnership in the field of molecular diagnostics with New Zealand firm Pacific Edge Ltd in 2011. According to the agreement, Oryzon holds an exclusive license to market the Cxbladder assay, which detects bladder cancer in urine in some European countries. Oryzon will run the Cxbladder test in its Clinical Analysis Lab, which was authorized by the Catalonian Government last year. äóìThe central lab is the axis and launching platform of our diagnostic and personalized medicine divisionäó, explains Carlos Buesa. "We have shown that our biomarker discovery platform is capable of developing personalized medicine products and bringing them to market. The goal is to become the leader in molecular diagnostics in Spain and to partner our therapeutic programs with specialized pharmaceutical companies."
For further information, please contact:
Emili Torrell
Business Development Officer Tel. +34 93 515 13 13, etorrell@oryzon.com