SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Jennerex, Inc. (San Francisco, CA and Ottawa, Canada), announced today that David H. Kirn, M.D., President & CEO delivered a plenary session presentation on Friday, May 30, 2008 entitled “Clinical Proof-of-Concept with JX-594, a Novel Targeted Multi-Mechanistic Oncolytic Poxvirus, in Patients with Refractory Liver Tumors” at the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. This abstract was selected for presentation in the plenary session from over 1,000 abstracts submitted to the conference. The ASGT Meeting is the premier annual international conference covering advancements in viral and genetic therapies for cancer.
In addition, Dr. John C. Bell, Chief Scientific Officer, delivered a presentation at the same conference, on Thursday, May 29, 2008, entitled “Oncolytic Virus Therapies of Cancer.” In a third presentation by Jennerex R and D leaders, Dr. Kirn delivered a presentation on Jennerex product development entitled “Design and Development of Targeted and Armed Oncolytic Poxviruses, a Novel Therapeutic Class.”
This follows on Jennerex’s recent announcement that Phase I clinical trial results from its first-in-class lead product JX-594 were published in the premier journal Lancet Oncology. The majority of these end-stage patients with solid tumors had objective tumor destruction and responses following treatment with the cancer biotherapeutic. Half of the JX-594-treated patients survived for more than eight months, well beyond their life expectancies of three to four months, and four patients with tumor responses survived for 11 to over 18 months. Results were especially promising for liver and lung cancer patients. Importantly, treatment with JX-594 was shown to be well-tolerated. A Phase II clinical trial is now underway for JX-594 in liver cancer. The world-wide liver cancer market is estimated at over one billion dollars per year.
About JX-594
JX-594 is a cancer biotherapeutic, currently in Phase II trials, from a proprietary class of targeted and armed oncolytic poxviruses. Tumor destruction and safety was shown in patients with diverse cancer types in three Phase I trials; treated patients were end-stage and had no effective therapies available. JX-594 multiplies selectively within cancer cells, leading to their destruction. These newly created copies of JX-594 are then released and are able to infect and eradicate other tumor cells both locally and in distant sites in the body. This cycle of JX-594 replication, cancer cell destruction, release and spread is then repeated. Normal cells are not affected by JX-594 resulting in safety and tolerability. The poxvirus strain backbone of JX-594 has been used safely in millions of people as part of a worldwide vaccination program against smallpox. This strain naturally targets cancer cells due to common genetic defects in cancer cells. JX-594 was engineered to enhance this natural safety and cancer-selectivity by deleting its thymidine kinase (TK) gene, thus making it dependent on the cellular TK expressed at persistently high levels in cancer cells. To enhance product efficacy, JX-594 is also engineered to express the GM-CSF protein. GM-CSF complements the cancer cell lysis work of the product candidate, leading to a cascade of events resulting in tumor necrosis, tumor vasculature shutdown and an anti-tumoral immune attack.
About Jennerex
Jennerex is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class, breakthrough targeted oncolytic products for cancer. The company’s lead product JX-594, currently in an international Phase II trial for primary liver cancer, demonstrated promising Phase I efficacy and safety results in patients with a diverse array of common large market cancers. Jennerex’s products target, attack and eradicate cancers through a novel and potent oncolytic mechanism that is dependent on highly-specific replication of the company’s poxviruses in cancer cells. These products simultaneously stimulate the body’s immune response to the cancer. Of note, this mechanism of action and the results in patients to date put the company’s product class in a leadership position. Jennerex’s position is in marked contrast to gene therapy and standard cancer vaccine approaches. For more information about Jennerex and the company’s robust pipeline and three clinical-stage products, please visit http://www.jennerex.com.
For more information about this conference, please visit http://www.asgt.org/am08.
CONTACT: David H. Kirn of Jennerex, Inc., +1-415-281-8886, cell,
+1-415-847-7326, dkirn@jennerex.com
Web site: http://www.jennerex.com/
