Selvita To Present New Data From Oncology Programs At AACR 2014
Polish biotechnology company Selvita announced it will present new data at poster sessions at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014, which will be held next month at San Diego, California.
Selvita will present two posters regarding research progress from its advanced oncology programs. These are entitled “Repression of tumor survival pathways by novel and selective inhibitors of MNK1 and MNK2 kinases in glioblastoma and colorectal cancer” and “Preclinical characterization of SEL24-B489, a dual PIM/FLT3 inhibitor for the treatment of hematological malignancies”.
Dr. Krzysztof Brzozka, Selvita Chief Scientific Officer, said “In SEL201 Project we are studying the potential of targeting novel kinase targets in oncology, such as MNK1/2 kinases which are linked in the literature to modulation of translation in various malignancies. Selvita has developed the most selective series of MNK1/2 inhibitors reported so far and is currently exploring therapeutic potential of this group of compounds in solid tumors, especially in combination with other agents targeting translation such as PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors.”
SEL201 is currently at lead stage of optimization. SEL24, another of Selvita’s project, is set to begin clinical development in 2015.
“Within SEL24 project Selvita is exploring the potential of targeting two critical kinases shown to be crucial for development of hematological malignances and pursued by our competitors using target-selective inhibitors. We have developed the first in class molecule targeting selectively mutated forms of FLT3 and downstream effectors of FLT3 signaling, namely the family of PIM kinases. Our dual-activity, clinical candidate molecule, SEL24-B489 shows superior activity on a panel of AML models, both in vitro and in vivo in comparison to single-target inhibitors, excellent bioavailability and promising initial toxicology profile. On top of these data, observed synergism with cytarabine further increases the chances of success of our drug in clinical trials which we plan to commence in 2015,” said Dr. Brzozka.