SAN MARINO — Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation today announced that Rexin-G®, its lead product in development for metastatic cancer, has been highlighted in a recent NEWS article published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI, Sept. 9, 2008). The article, authored by Vickie Brower, describes recent advances and new approaches in genetic medicine that may succeed where small molecules and proteins have failed. Noted for its recent demonstrations of safety and single-agent efficacy in several types of metastatic cancers that were refractory to standard chemotherapy, Rexin-G is described as the world’s second commercially approved gene therapy-while it remains the first and so far only targeted, injectable genetic medicine that has been effectively validated in the clinic.
Rexin-G, with its elegant tumor-targeting biotechnologies, performs a vital surveillance function for the benefit of the cancer patient: distributing throughout the general circulation, while constantly seeking-out and accumulating in primary tumors and metastatic tissues that have spread throughout the body. Within minutes, the tumor-targeted nanoparticles of Rexin-G begin to accumulate within the cancerous lesions to high levels, delivering a lethal payload of genetic medicine selectively to cancer cells and their attendant blood supply, while sparing normal cells and tissues. In a series of four clinical trials that are currently ongoing in the United States, Rexin-G has demonstrated dose-dependent improvements in tumor-control indices, while exhibiting no dose-limiting toxicities. The JNCI article noted that Rexin-G has been granted Orphan Drug Status by the U.S. FDA for three different types of cancers: osteosarcoma, soft-tissue sarcoma, and pancreatic cancer. Ten months ago, Rexin-G was formally approved in the Philippines for the treatment of all solid tumors that are refractory to standard chemotherapies.
The JNCI NEWS article also highlighted the second tumor-targeted agent in development by Epeius Biotechnologies, describing Reximmune-C as an immune stimulant, or personalized cancer vaccine, designed to be used alone or in combination with Rexin-G. Reximmune-C incorporates a powerful cytokine gene, in place of the cytocidal gene used in Rexin-G, to deliver an immune-stimulating pulse to activate a patient’s own immune cells in the area of residual tumors to prevent recurrence. Remarkably, several of the prominent cancer researchers, companies, and academicians interviewed for the JNCI article focused-in principle-on the very same issues that Epeius Biotechnologies, with its definitive molecular engineering platform, has actually managed to address. The JNCI article is well worth reading.
About Epeius Biotechnologies
Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation is a privately held biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the advancement of genetic medicine with the development and commercialization of its proprietary targeted delivery systems. To learn more about our pipeline of proprietary biotechnologies that are currently available for licensing and clinical development, please visit our website, http://www.epeiusbiotech.com.
For more information about Rexin-G, Reximmune-C, and on-going clinical trials in the USA and abroad, please contact Dr. Erlinda M. Gordon at egordon@epeiusbiotech.com.
[tags]Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation, Rexin-G, Reximmune-C, clinical trials for metastatic cancer, California biopharmaceutical company[/tags]
