SAN FRANCISCO, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Jennerex, Inc., a clinical-stage cancer biotherapeutics company, today announced that key data from its JX-594 intravenous administration Phase 1 dose escalation clinical study will be presented at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting taking place May 19-22, 2010, in Washington DC.
The presentation details are as follows:
- Abstract #33: “Demonstration of Delivery and Antitumoral Activity of JX-594, a Targeted Multi-Mechanistic Oncolytic Poxvirus, Following a Single Intravenous Infusion in Patients with Refractory Metastatic Cancers”
- Oral presentation to be made on May 20, 2010, 2:00 p.m. EDT by David H. Kirn, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Jennerex, in the “Cancer-Oncolytic Viruses I” session.
About JX-594
JX-594, currently in Phase 2 clinical trials, is a cancer biotherapeutic product from a proprietary breakthrough class of targeted and armed oncolytic and immunotherapeutic poxviruses. Tumor destruction and safety was shown in patients with diverse cancer types in three Phase 1 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. 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 biotherapeutics 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 randomized Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with primary liver cancer, demonstrated promising Phase 1 efficacy and safety results in patients with a diverse array of common 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 not only cause cancer cell lysis thereby killing through replication, they simultaneously shut off the blood supply to tumors, as well as stimulating the body’s immune response to the cancer. Jennerex, Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco and has research and development operations in Ottawa, Canada and Busan, South Korea. For more information about Jennerex and the Company’s pipeline of three clinical-stage products, please visit www.jennerex.com.
SOURCE Jennerex, Inc.