Moleculin Biotech, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of anti-cancer drug candidates, some of which are based on license agreements with The University of Texas System on behalf of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, announced that it has entered into an agreement to collaborate with the University of Bergen to expand research on inhibition of brain metastasis by Moleculin’s pre-clinical drug WP1066 and its unique ability to increase immune system response to cancer and suppression of tumor cell proliferation and survival.

“We’ve seen promising evidence that WP1066 has potent anticancer effects in animal tumor models due to its unique mode of action,” commented Walter Klemp, Chairman and CEO of Moleculin. “WP1066 is well known for its ability to block the expression of the key oncogenic transcription factors that promote tumor growth and suppress immune system responses. As such, we believe WP1066 has promising potential to stimulate patients’ natural immune response against tumors.”

Mr. Klemp continued: “We announced last month a separate collaboration with the University of Bergen in Norway on WP1122 for brain tumors. The WP1066 project will be led by Dr. Frits Alan Thorsen and may provide critical insight on WP1066, which we anticipate will be in clinical trials soon.”

The Company previously announced that Moleculin is working with MD Anderson in their effort to move forward with a physician sponsored IND (Investigational New Drug) application to study WP1066 in patients with glioblastoma and melanoma that has metastasized to the brain. That IND has been on hold pending responses to requests from the FDA. If the FDA allows the IND to proceed based on the responses provided, Moleculin anticipates this clinical trial could be ready to begin by the end of this year.

Source: dddmag