Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Inc. Researchers Present New Findings on Mechanism of Action for Anti-Cancer Drug Candidate APOPTONE(TM) (HE3235) at American Association for Cancer Research Meeting

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEPH), the world leader in the development of a new class of small molecule compounds based on endogenous adrenal steroid hormones, today presented new findings regarding the potential mechanism of action of APOPTONE™ (HE3235), the Company’s drug candidate in development for the treatment of prostate cancer. New preclinical data presented today demonstrate the ability of APOPTONE to activate a naturally occurring regulatory pathway known as Raf/MEK/ERK, which is known to down-regulate PI3K/AKT, the growth pathway that is hyper-activated in prostate cancer cells. The Company believes that APOPTONE’s activation of Raf/MEK/ERK may, in part, be contributing to the compound’s ability in preclinical models to date to cause prostate cancer cells to undergo apoptosis, or die. The Company's new findings were reported this week at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Advances in Prostate Cancer Research Conference, being held in San Diego, California from January 21st through January 24th, by Dr. Richard Trauger, Senior Director of Infectious Diseases and Cancer at Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals.