SAN DIEGO, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambit Biosciences Corporation announced today the presentation of two posters presenting the results of preclinical studies evaluating AC220 at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in New Orleans. AC220, Ambit’s lead product candidate, is a novel, orally available, small molecule that was expressly optimized as a FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) inhibitor for the treatment of AML. Ambit has completed enrollment of patients in the first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in relapsed/refractory AML. A summary of the posters are as follows:
“Combined, these posters present a comprehensive and compelling picture that illustrates the preclinical efficacy of AC220 in a range of AML disease models driven by FLT3 ITD mutations and in combination with a variety of chemotherapy agents commonly used to treat AML,” said Wendell Wierenga, PhD, Executive Vice President, Research & Development at Ambit. “Not only do these findings support the continued investigation of AC220 as monotherapy in AML patients that harbor the FLT3 ITD mutation, but these results also provide insights on a range of plausible considerations for the design and conduct of clinical trials that combine the targeted therapy, AC220, with chemotherapy in the treatment of AML patients. We look forward to expanding our clinical program to include such trials in the future.”
About Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
Acute myeloid leukemia is a form of blood cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 13,000 new cases of AML will be diagnosed in the United States in 2008. The median age of a patient with AML is about 67 years. Standard treatment for patients 60 years or older with AML includes systemic combination chemotherapy. The median survival for patients receiving induction chemotherapy, which is associated with high mortality, is 6-11 months, with shorter survival for patients over the age of 60 years. The five-year survival rate for AML is less than 15 percent due to refractory and relapsed disease associated with standard treatments. According to a report from Decision Resources, the U.S. AML market is expected to more than double by 2015.
Ambit’s lead compound, AC220, is in clinical development for the treatment of AML and other indications. Ambit plans to commence in 2009 and 2010 several clinical studies with AC220, including a registration study in AML. Ambit’s clinical pipeline also includes AC480, an oral pan-HER inhibitor that was in-licensed from BMS. Ambit is conducting Phase 2 studies with AC480 in patients with solid tumor cancers. Additionally, Ambit has an advancing pool of preclinical candidates targeting BRAF (in collaboration with Cephalon), JAK2, Aurora, and CSF1R. Through its KINOMEscan Division, Ambit markets its technology as a profiling service. For more information, visit www.ambitbio.com.
Ambit Biosciences Corporation
