Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: RNN), a clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has signed an
exclusive license agreement with the University of Maryland, Baltimore
(UMB) for a novel drug delivery platform, Nano-Polymer-Drug Conjugate
Systems (NPDCS). This technology targets the delivery of currently
marketed chemotherapeutic agents directly into cancerous tumors. The
direct delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs into the tumors has been shown
to result in increased efficacy and reduced toxicity.
The NPDCS platform combines existing chemotherapeutic agents with a
proprietary polymer carrier that contains a signaling moiety which
directs the drug into the tumor. This approach minimizes the levels of
freely circulating anti-cancer agents in the body, which can
dramatically reduce potential adverse events, and maximizes anti-tumor
activity by accumulating in the cancer tumor. NPDCS is a broad platform
that has the potential to generate multiple therapeutic candidates going
forward.
Rexahn’s first drug candidate developed utilizing this novel platform is
RX-21101, a polymer conjugated form of docetaxel, a common chemotherapy
agent. In preclinical studies, RX-21101 demonstrated increased efficacy
and reduced toxicity, as compared to intravenously administered free
docetaxel. Docetaxel is now generic but is marketed worldwide under the
trade name Taxotere® and has reported annual sales of $3.1 billion for
the treatment of breast, ovarian, prostate, and non-small cell lung
cancer. Despite its commercial success, docetaxel is toxic to all
dividing cells in the body and is associated with a high incidence of
adverse events including anemia, infection, fever, neutropenia,
neuropathy, asthenia, edema, alopecia, nausea and vomiting. These
adverse events are the result of high concentrations of free docetaxel
in the blood. By minimizing the circulating concentration of free
docetaxel in the blood and maximizing the concentration in the cancer
tumor, RX-21101 may increase anti-tumor activity and a lower incidence
of adverse events.
Dr. Hamid Ghandehari, Professor, Departments of Pharmaceutics and
Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Bioengineering, University of Utah and
co-developer of the NPDCS technology commented, “The NPDCS platform
represents a significant advancement in targeted delivery of
chemotherapeutic agents directly to cancer tumors. Other approaches have
not been able to combine the controlled, targeted release of existing
chemotherapeutic directly to the cancerous tumor.”
“This discovery – as well as the partnership with a leading
Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company – is very exciting for UMB, and
Rexahn is exactly the type of focused organization that our office seeks
out as a commercial partner,” said Phil Robilotto, Assistant Vice
President, UMB Office of Technology Transfer. “The initial funding for
this work was provided through a Maryland Industrial Partnership (MIPS)
award, and a successful long term university/industry relationship such
as this is a terrific example of the value of the MIPS program.”
Peter D. Suzdak, Ph.D., Rexahn’s Chief Executive Officer commented, “The
NPDCS platform complements our three clinical stage compounds with a
lower risk approach that maximizes efficacy while reducing the adverse
events associated with existing anti-cancer agents. Rexahn looks forward
to utilizing the NPDCS platform to develop multiple development
candidates for either internal development or out licensing.”
About Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
dedicated to developing best-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of
cancer. Rexahn currently has three clinical stage oncology candidates,
Archexin®, RX-3117, and RX-5902 and a robust pipeline of preclinical
compounds to treat multiple types of cancer. Rexahn has also developed
proprietary drug discovery platform technologies in the areas of
Nano-Polymer-Drug Conjugate Systems (NPDCS), nano-medicines, 3D-GOLD,
and TIMES. For more information, please visit www.rexahn.com.
Safe Harbor
To the extent any statements made in this press release deal with
information that is not historical, these are forward-looking statements
under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Rexahn’s
plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future
operations and products and other statements identified by words such as
“will,” “potential,” “could,” “can,” “believe,” “intends,” “continue,”
“plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “may,” other words of
similar meaning or the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements
by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees,
uncertain. Uncertainties and risks may cause Rexahn’s actual results to
be materially different than those expressed in or implied by Rexahn’s
forward-looking statements. For Rexahn, particular uncertainties and
risks include, among others, the difficulty of developing pharmaceutical
products, obtaining regulatory and other approvals and achieving market
acceptance; the marketing success of Rexahn’s licensees or sublicensees;
the success of clinical testing; and Rexahn’s need for and ability to
obtain additional financing. More detailed information on these and
additional factors that could affect Rexahn’s actual results are
described in Rexahn’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and
subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking
statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news
release. Rexahn undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Copyright Business Wire 2013