SAN DIEGO, July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lpath, Inc. , the first to generate therapeutic monoclonal antibodies against bioactive lipids, has achieved another medical breakthrough: It is now the first to generate functional antibodies against lysophosphatidic acid ("LPA"), a key bioactive lipid and a potent cancer promoter.
The cancer-research community has long recognized LPA as a significant contributor to cancer through its promotion of cancer-cell growth and metastasis in a broad range of tumor types. In response, many academics, biotechs, and pharmaceutical companies have all tried-without success-to produce drugs, including antibodies, that target LPA and neutralize its potent tumorigenic effects.
Using its proprietary ImmuneY2 technology, Lpath has not only succeeded in generating monoclonal antibodies against LPA, it has also demonstrated, using standard assays, that these antibodies mitigate LPA's tumorigenic effects on cancer cells.
"We continue to be a company of firsts," remarked Scott Pancoast, Lpath's president and CEO. "This breakthrough reveals again the power of our proprietary technology and blazes new ground in this exciting and promising area of cancer research."
Dr. William Garland, Lpath's vice president of development and former senior director for Hoffman-La Roche commented, "For many years, the scientific community has recognized the significant therapeutic and diagnostic potential of an anti-LPA antibody. However, many companies failed in their efforts to create an antibody against LPA, despite considerable effort. Lpath's success with LPA validates the ability of its technology and its research team to produce antibodies for these therapeutically important, yet highly challenging, targets."
Lpath used this same ImmuneY2 technology to produce antibodies against sphingosine-1-phosphate ("S1P"), another validated cancer target. The best performing of these antibodies, called Sphingomab(TM), is now Lpath's lead drug candidate and has shown preclinical efficacy against six different mouse models of human cancer. The cancer-related findings were recently published in the leading scientific journal, Cancer Cell. (See: http://www.cancercell.org/content/article/fulltext?uid=PIIS1535610806000602)
Due to their exquisite specificity and pharmacology, antibodies have a strong record of success as drugs, especially in the oncology arena, as demonstrated by Erbitux(R) (ImClone) and by Avastin(R) and Herceptin(R) (Genentech), among others.
"Now that we've established that ImmuneY2 works for the LPA project," notes Pancoast, "we are at a turning point where we can follow the more predictable and well-defined path of selecting the best-performing LPA antibodies to advance into development."
Dr. Gordon Mills, the chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and one of the world's foremost ovarian cancer specialists, is also the chair of Lpath's Scientific Advisory Board. "We at M.D. Anderson are excited by the opportunity to evaluate the anti-LPA antibodies in preclinical models of human cancer and look forward to performing the 'first-in-man' studies," said Mills. "Given that we have spent the last two decades demonstrating how important LPA is in cancer, this is an incredibly exciting innovation."
Lpath has expanded its extensive patent portfolio to include methods and compositions of matter relating to antibodies generated from the ImmuneY2 process, including anti-LPA antibodies.
Roger Sabbadini, Lpath's founder and chief scientific officer, has been the driving force behind the company's novel technology. "Given that nearly all commercialized drugs target proteins," Sabbadini notes, "our approach of targeting bioactive lipids is revolutionary, and it continues to reinforce Lpath as the category leader in therapeutics that target important bioactive lipids."
About Lpath
Lpath, headquartered in San Diego, is a theranostics company focused on bioactive signaling lipids as targets for treating and diagnosing important human diseases, including cancer, heart failure, and age-related macular degeneration. Lpath's lead product candidate, Sphingomab, has demonstrated compelling results against seven different forms of human solid-tumor as well as lymphoma and myeloma cancers in pre-clinical animal studies. Like Avastin(R) (Genentech's blockbuster cancer drug), Sphingomab is anti-angiogenic, but Sphingomab has other mechanisms of action that may prove advantageous in the clinical setting. As such, although Genentech pioneered the anti-angiogenesis approach to treating cancer, Lpath believes Sphingomab may prove to be the next generation of anti-angiogenesis-based therapeutics.
Lpath's unique ability to generate antibodies against bioactive lipids is based on its ImmuneY2 technology. The Company is currently applying the ImmuneY2 process to other important lipid-signaling agents that are validated targets for disease treatment, thereby creating a potential pipeline of antibody-based drug candidates.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. For example, there can be no assurance that required clinical trials will be successful, necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained, or the proposed treatments will prove to be safe or effective. Actual results may also differ substantially from those described in or contemplated by this press release due to risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment, including, without limitation, our limited experience in the development of therapeutic drugs, our dependence upon proprietary technology, our history of operating losses and accumulated deficits, our reliance on research grants, current and future competition, and other risks described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof.
Lpath, Sphingomab, and ImmuneY2 are trademarks of Lpath, Inc.; Avastin is a trademark of Genentech, Inc.
Contact: Investor Relations Liolios Group, Inc. Geoffrey Plank or Ron Both 949-574-3860
Lpath, Inc.CONTACT: Scott Pancoast of Lpath, Inc., +1-858-678-0800, ext. 118,spancoast@lpath.com; or Investors, Geoffrey Plank or Ron Both, both ofLiolios Group, Inc., +1-949-574-3860, for Lpath, Inc.
Web site: http://www.lpath.com//
