IND filing for GMI-1359 planned for mid-2016
GlycoMimetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLYC) announced today that preclinical data
presented in a poster at the 57th American Society of
Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting on its drug candidate GMI-1359 showed
the compound enhanced the ability of chemotherapy to target and improve
survival from FLT3-ITD mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
“The data presented on GMI-1359 show a dramatic effect on the
development and proliferation of FLT3-ITD AML cells, indicating that
GMI-1359 could serve as an effective method for enhancing chemotherapy
against AML,” said John
L. Magnani, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of
GlycoMimetics. “We are especially encouraged by our preclinical data
showing increased survival as we prepare to advance GMI-1359 into
clinical trials in 2016.”
The data obtained from researchers at GlycoMimetics and the MD Anderson
Cancer Center in Houston showed that GMI-1359 significantly reduced the
adhesion of FLT3-mutated leukemia cells (a common mutation in AML) to
stem cell feeder layers in cell culture that mimicked the bone marrow
environment. The data therefore indicate that GMI-1359 could reduce the
resistance to chemotherapy that occurs when leukemia cells bind to bone
marrow. In addition, apoptosis, a process of normal cell death often
bypassed by cancer cells, was boosted in leukemic cells cultured with
both GMI-1359 and sorafenib, a common chemotherapy agent. Studies in
animal models showed distinctly higher survival rates (67 percent versus
30 percent) when treated with GMI-1359 and chemotherapy, compared with
chemotherapy alone.
GMI-1359
targets both E-selectin, a cell adhesion molecule, and CXCR4, a
molecular cytokine. Both of these molecules aid in blood cell resistance
to chemotherapy, offering protection to FLT3-mutated cells in the bone
marrow. Current therapies can reduce leukemia cell growth in circulating
blood of FLT3-mutated AML patients, but do not have any effect on
leukemia cells in bone marrow.
The abstract (Abstract #3790), entitled “The Dual E-Selectin/CXCR4
Inhibitor, GMI-1359, Enhances Efficacy of Anti-Leukemia Chemotherapy in FLT3-ITD
Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia,” is available at ASH’s
website.
About GlycoMimetics, Inc.
GlycoMimetics is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the
discovery and development of novel glycomimetic drugs to address unmet
medical needs resulting from diseases in which carbohydrate biology
plays a key role. GlycoMimetics entered into an exclusive license
agreement with Pfizer for rivipansel in October 2011. Under the license
agreement, Pfizer is responsible for the clinical development,
regulatory approval and potential commercialization of rivipansel, which
is currently being evaluated in a Phase 3 study for treatment of
vaso-occlusive crisis of sickle cell disease.
GlycoMimetics’s wholly-owned drug candidate (GMI-1271) for AML and other
blood disorders is also in clinical trials. Glycomimetics are molecules
that mimic the structure of carbohydrates involved in important
biological processes. Using its expertise in carbohydrate chemistry and
knowledge of carbohydrate biology, GlycoMimetics is developing a
pipeline of glycomimetic drug candidates that inhibit disease-related
functions of carbohydrates, such as the roles they play in inflammation,
cancer and infection. Learn more at www.glycomimetics.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the
clinical development of the GMI-1359 and the presentation of data.
Actual results may differ materially from those in these forward-looking
statements. For a further description of the risks associated with these
statements, as well as other risks facing GlycoMimetics, please see the
risk factors described in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K that
was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16,
2015, and other filings the company makes with the SEC from time to
time. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this
release, and GlycoMimetics undertakes no obligation to update or revise
these statements, except as may be required by law.
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