BUFFALO, N.Y., March 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Athenex, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATNX), a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, today announced that an abstract highlighting the preclinical data of Oraxol (HM30181A plus oral paclitaxel) in angiosarcoma has been accepted for presentation in a Poster Session at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019, taking place March 29 – April 3, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
In the angiosarcoma xenograft model, oral dosing of Oraxol resulted in dose-dependent tumor growth inhibition and subsequent increased survival. Tumor histology revealed that Oraxol greatly reduced the formation of cavernous blood-filled neoplastic vessels characteristic of angiosarcoma.
Oraxol was granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of angiosarcomas in April 2018. Athenex has commenced a Phase I clinical study evaluating Oraxol in angiosarcomas.
Details of the presentation are as follows:
- Title: Effective preclinical management of angiosarcoma with oral paclitaxel (abstract #5261)
- Session Category: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics
- Session: DNA Repair and Reactive Agents / HDAC / Demethylating Agents
- Date: April 3, 2019 (Wednesday)
- Time: 8:00am – 12:00pm ET
- Location: Georgia World Congress Center, Exhibit Hall B, Poster Section 10
The abstract for the Athenex’s poster is available on the AACR website here.
The Orascovery platform was initially developed by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals and licensed exclusively to Athenex for all major worldwide territories except Korea, which is retained by Hanmi.
About Angiosarcoma
Angiosarcomas are a type of soft tissue sarcoma characterized by rapidly proliferating, extensively infiltrating, anaplastic cells derived from blood and lymphatic vessels. Angiosarcomas arise in various body sites, including cutaneous, soft tissue, and visceral locations. Angiosarcomas are frequently metastatic at diagnosis, with a natural history complicated by local recurrence, distant metastases, and poor overall survival. Angiosarcomas represent about 2% of soft tissue sarcomas and 5.4% of cutaneous soft tissue sarcomas.
There is no approved treatment for angiosarcoma and survival is limited with treatments currently available. However, reports in the literature of objective tumor response support the use of intravenous paclitaxel in the treatment of angiosarcoma.
About Athenex, Inc.
Founded in 2003, Athenex, Inc. is a global clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to becoming a leader in the discovery and development of next generation drugs for the treatment of cancer. Athenex is organized around three platforms, including an Oncology Innovation Platform, a Commercial Platform and a Global Supply Chain Platform. The Company’s current clinical pipeline is derived from four different platform technologies: (1) Orascovery, based on non-absorbed P-glycoprotein inhibitor, (2) Src kinase inhibition, (3) T-cell receptor-engineered T-cells (TCR-T), and (4) Arginine deprivation therapy. Athenex’s employees worldwide are dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by creating more active and tolerable treatments. Athenex has offices in Buffalo and Clarence, New York; Cranford, New Jersey; Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; and multiple locations in Chongqing, China. For more information, please visit www.athenex.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are typically identified by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “foresee,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “probable,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: the development stage of our primary clinical candidates and related risks involved in drug development, clinical trials, regulation, manufacturing and commercialization; our reliance on third parties for success in certain areas of Athenex’s business; our history of operating losses and need to raise additional capital to continue as a going concern; competition; intellectual property risks; risks relating to doing business in China; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in our SEC filings, copies of which are available for free in the Investor Relations section of our website at http://ir.athenex.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254495&p=irol-sec or upon request from our Investor Relations Department. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
CONTACTS
Investor Relations:
Tim McCarthy
Managing Director, LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Tel: +1 716-427-2952
Direct: +1 212-915-2564
Athenex, Inc.:
Randoll Sze
Chief Financial Officer
Email: randollsze@athenex.com
Jacqueline Li
Corporate Development and Investor Relations
Email: jacquelineli@athenex.com