"We are very excited about the attention that Reata's drug pipeline received at this important cancer meeting," said Warren Huff, Reata's President and Chief Executive Officer. "In just three years, Reata has brought three highly differentiated cancer drugs into the clinic and built a strong pipeline behind these lead agents. This meeting provided an excellent showcase for these drugs, and for the company."
Reata’s Synthetic Triterpenoids
Eight posters were presented on Reata’s synthetic triterpenoid drugs (RTA 401 and RTA 402), and these novel targeted therapies were also showcased in presentations by Dr. Michael Sporn of Dartmouth Medical School and Dr. John Reed of The Burnham Institute.
Reata and its collaborators in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Andreeff from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center presented data showing strong single agent activity in xenograft models of breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. In both cases, the Reata triterpenoids showed performed better than approved drugs, including doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and gemcitabine. Additionally, data was presented showing these drugs are effective in combination with doxorubicin or paclitaxel.
Furthermore, data was presented showing these drugs not only have minimal toxicity in non-human primates, but are able to protect normal cells from the toxic effects of radiation and chemotherapy. These properties, which have never before been reported for an anti-cancer agent, are attributed to the drugs' unique mechanism of action that exploits the difference in oxidative stress between normal and cancer cells.
RTA 401 is in Phase I clinical trials at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and RTA 402 will enter clinical trials in early 2006.
Reata's Other Programs
Drs. Waldemar Priebe and Timothy Madden from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center presented data on the discovery, preclinical development, and pharmacology of RTA 744, a novel anthracycline that crosses the blood-brain barrier. These posters were selected by the meeting organizers as one of five notable discoveries presented in the meeting. RTA 744 is in Phase I clinical trials at M.D. Anderson in patients with primary brain tumors.
Dr. Christopher Michejda of the National Cancer Institute presented data on RTA 502 (also known as HKH40A) indicating this topoisomerase I inhibitor also downregulates ribonucleotide reductase (RRM2). Because this DNA repair protein has been demonstrated to be a key mechanism of resistance to gemcitabine, RTA 502 may prove highly effective when used in combination with gemcitabine. Animal studies to test this hypothesis are underway, and will be presented at an upcoming scientific meeting.
Dr. W. Christian Wigley of Reata presented Reata's novel drug discovery platform and its use to discover small molecules that restore the function of p53. This protein is mutated over 50% of cancers and is a target of significant interest for drug discovery. Reata presented data showing its proprietary assay has successfully identified several promising hits capable of restoring p53 function within the cell.
For more information, press only:
Warren Huff
(972) 865-2200
warren.huff@reatapharma.com
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