TAMPA, Fla., April 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Intezyne, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cancer therapies, announced that the University of Vienna are presenting data showing IT-139's induction of Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD) at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2018 in Chicago, Illinois from April 14-18.
Debora Wernitznig, MSc, a Doctoral Candidate in the lab of Michael Jakupec, PhD at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and the Translational Cancer Therapy Research Cluster at the University of Vienna, will be presenting a poster entitled, "KP-1339 (IT-139) Induces the Hallmarks of Immunogenic Cell Death in a Colon Cancer 3D Model In Vitro." Recent data show that molecular patterning from dying cells damaged by chemotherapy agents (specifically oxaliplatin) leads to signals that are recognized by the immune system and trigger an immune response, a mechanism called 'Immunogenic Cell Death (ICD)'. Certain proteins are hallmarks of ICD, and the data from Dr. Jakupec's group show that treatment with IT-139 also induces these proteins and triggers ICD.
"With a dedicated focus on translational anti-cancer drug development from bench to bedside, particularly structure-activity relationships of metal complexes in human cancer cell lines, we work closely with the Institute of Cancer Research of the Medical University of Vienna within the joint Translational Cancer Therapy Research Cluster," states Dr. Jakupec. "Our group uses multicellular colorectal cell spheroids as a model because we believe it more closely resembles the tumor microenvironment and better reflects aspects of what happens in vivo than traditional 2-D monolayer culture of cancer cells in vitro."
Prof. Dr. Dr. Bernhard Keppler, Dean of Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Vienna, Head of the Research Cluster for Translational Cancer Therapy Research, and a recognized pioneer of metal-based anti-cancer drugs and co-author of more than 600 scholarly and professional articles, is an important contributor to the abstract. Prof. Keppler originally synthesized IT-139 (KP-1339), selecting IT-139 (KP-1339) from out of more than 200 promising product candidates. Since acquiring IT-139 in 2014, Intezyne has collaborated with Prof. Keppler's team to unravel IT-139's novel and increasingly intriguing mechanism of action.
"It is rare that truly novel mechanisms of action are discovered, but the data increasingly suggest that IT-139 is the first of an entirely new class of anti-cancer agents that selectively target critical cancer cell resistance pathways," added E. Russell McAllister, CEO of Intezyne. "We are encouraged and excited by Prof. Keppler's ongoing contribution to the discovery and development of IT-139 (KP-1339), supported by the pioneering science conducted by Dr. Jakupec's group and other innovators at the joint Translational Cancer Therapy Research Cluster at the University of Vienna. With recent data showing synergy between IT-139 and checkpoint inhibitors adding to existing data showing synergy with directly cytotoxic anti-cancer therapies, we are increasingly excited at the opportunity ahead of us."
For more information about the University of Vienna's Translational Cancer Therapy Research Cluster, please visit their website at https://tctr.univie.ac.at/.
For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.intezyne.com.
Contact:
E. Russell McAllister, CEO
193368@email4pr.com, (813) 609-5017
SOURCE Intezyne Technologies, Inc.