SAN FRANCISCO and EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bionovo, Inc. today announced results on the role of estrogen receptor beta in breast cancer growth regulation. The data, which were presented at the Endocrine Society 90th Annual Meeting, showed that in breast cancer cells the activation of GADD45 gene via the estrogen receptor beta results in growth arrest.
“Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, and the most fatal form of cancer in younger women,” said Dr. Dale Leitman, from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. “It has been demonstrated that estrogens increase the risk of breast cancer while non-selective SERMs reduce that risk. This study shows that estrogen receptor beta stops the growth of breast cancer cells by increasing GADD45. The activation of this gene blocks the activation of important genes that stimulate the growth of cancer cells. This pathway might be an important target for drugs that selectively regulate estrogen receptor beta.”
The study was conducted by investigators at The Center for Reproductive Science in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with scientists at Bionovo.
“Understanding how estrogen receptor beta controls breast cancer cells growth is very important for future development of safe therapies for a variety of oncology and gynecological conditions,” said Isaac Cohen, Bionovo’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This discovery further demonstrates the potential of Bionovo’s pipeline of selective estrogen beta modulators.”
About Bionovo
Bionovo is a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of safe and effective treatments for women’s health and cancer, which are markets with significant unmet needs and billions in potential annual revenue. The company applies its expertise in the biology of menopause and cancer to design new drugs derived from botanical sources which have novel mechanisms of action. Based on the results of early and mid-stage clinical trials, Bionovo believes they have discovered new classes of drug candidates within their rich pipeline with the potential to be leaders in their markets. Bionovo is headquartered in Emeryville, California and is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol, “BNVI”. For more information about Bionovo and its programs, visit http://www.bionovo.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Bionovo, Inc. that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product development, efficacy and safety, regulatory actions or delays, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, physician acceptance, third party reimbursement, future capital requirements, competition in general and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. Bionovo, Inc. is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Investors, Lauren Glaser of The Trout Group, +1-415-392-3310,
lglaser@troutgroup.com, For Bionovo; or Tom Chesterman of Bionovo,
+1-510-420-4189, investor@bionovo.com
Web site: http://www.bionovo.com/
