MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2004--Ecopia BioSciences Inc. (TSX:EIA - News) announced today that its lead cancer drug candidate, ECO-04601, showed significant inhibition of tumour growth in an animal model of glioma, a form of brain cancer that is virtually incurable with current therapies. The anticancer efficacy of ECO-04601 was tested in animals against C6 glioma tumour cells in a xenograft mouse model. Tumour growth in this exceptionally aggressive model was significantly reduced by ECO-04601.
Dr. Francois Berger presented the data at the ANOCEF (Association of French-speaking Neuro-oncologists) conference held in Monaco on Saturday, January 31, 2004. During his presentation, Dr. Berger made the following statement: "ECO-04601 is an innovative anticancer agent showing activity in cancers that are hard to treat. Its novel mechanism of action seems to have a synergistic effect on various targets and opens the door to developing new therapies." Dr. Berger is a leading neuro-oncologist and Professor of Cellular Biology at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France and is conducting preclinical studies on ECO-04601.
"We are very pleased with these preliminary results. Glioma represents a particularly promising indication for the rapid advancement of ECO-04601 into human trials given the lack of effective treatments for these hard-to-treat brain tumours," commented Dr. Pierre Falardeau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ecopia. He continued, "The data is very encouraging, and we will pursue development of this compound towards the clinical phase as quickly as possible."
ECO-04601 is a potential anticancer agent discovered by Ecopia last year with its proprietary DECIPHER® technology. The compound defines an entirely new class of chemical entities. In vitro tests have shown that this agent is selective in inhibiting the growth of several tumour cells including leukemia, melanoma and cancers of the breast, lung and brain. This selectivity is an important property needed to develop a powerful cancer drug with low toxicity that will only target cancer cells.
The American Cancer Society estimated that there were 18,300 new cases of primary brain tumours diagnosed, and 13,100 deaths attributable to this disease, in the United States in 2003. Glioma tumours are particularly aggressive with more than half of newly diagnosed patients dying within 18 months. Current treatments include surgery to remove the tumour when accessible, radiation to shrink the tumour and chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells. However, due to the ability of glioma tumours to spread rapidly throughout the brain, these treatments are usually ineffective.
Ecopia has built a pipeline of new anticancer, antibacterial and antifungal agents using its proprietary DECIPHER® technology. The Company's pipeline includes two anticancer agents, ECO-04601 and ECO-02201, an antibacterial agent, ECO-00501, and two antifungal agents, ECO-02301 and ECO-14401. Ecopia's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: EIA).
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements, including expectations as to the pharmaceutical potential of compounds discovered by the Company's platform, the timeframe for preclinical and clinical development of the compounds into new medications, and expansion of the Company's product pipeline involve risk and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected here and depend on a number of factors, including scientific uncertainties relating to scientific hypotheses and experimental approaches in regard to the drug discovery platform, uncertainties related to the regulatory process for drug development and the success and timely completion of clinical studies and trials, and the impact of general economic conditions. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company appears in Ecopia's 2002 Annual Report.
Contact:
Ecopia BioSciences Inc. Karen Eugeni, 514-336-2700 ext. 404 www.ecopiabio.com eugeni@ecopiabio.com
Source: Ecopia BioSciences Inc.