BETHESDA, Md., June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micromet, Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel, proprietary antibody-based products for cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, announced that a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (1) supports the findings of several other studies that EpCAM (CD326), which is used as the target for Micromet's product candidates adecatumumab (MT201) and MT110, may be suitable as a target for eradication of so called "cancer stem cells" (CSCs). The other studies showed that CSCs from colon (2), breast (3), pancreatic (4) and prostate (5) cancers all express high levels of EpCAM, which, according to these studies, makes these cells particularly capable of causing tumors.
CSCs constitute a small percentage of tumor cells that have the potential to self-renew and to permanently repopulate a tumor with new cancer cells. CSCs appear to be resistant to various chemotherapies, which may be one of the key reasons why most current therapies cannot cure cancer through elimination of all tumor cells (6). Micromet scientists believe that the findings of EpCAM expression by CSCs in many cancers and of EpCAM being a frequently and highly expressed tumor-associated antigen (7, 8), supports Micromet's use of EpCAM for targeted therapeutics.
EpCAM is the target for Micromet's clinical-stage product candidate adecatumumab (MT201), a fully human monoclonal antibody being co-developed with Merck Serono. In addition, Micromet's BiTE(R) product candidate MT110, an anti-EpCAM/CD3-bispecific antibody construct, is currently in late preclinical development. Both product candidates are designed to recognize EpCAM- expressing cancer cells and to instruct cytotoxic cells of the immune system to eliminate such cancer cells.
"The 'seek and destroy' mechanism of our EpCAM-directed therapeutic drug candidates may be capable of finding and eradicating cancer stem cells in various indications," commented Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., Micromet's Chief Scientific Officer. "In addition, EpCAM is also expressed on the progeny of cancer stem cells, which may lead to a reduction of tumor mass by these drugs alone or by combining them with standard therapies."
References 1 Dalerba P, Dylla SJ, Park I-K et al. Phenotypic characterization of human colorectal cancer stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007; 104:10158-63 2 Ricci-Vitiani L, Lombardi DG, Pilozzi E et al. Identification and expansion of human colon-cancer-initiating cells. Nature 2007; 445: 111-15 3 Al-Hajj M, Wicha MS, Benito-Hernandez A et al. Prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003; 100: 3983-88 4 Li C, Heidt DG, Dalerba P et al. Identification of pancreatic cancer stem cells. Cancer Res 2007; 67: 1030-7 5 Collins AT, Berry PA, Hyde C et al. Prospective identification of tumorigenic prostate cancer stem cells. Cancer Res 2005; 65: 10946-51 6 Pan CX, Zhu W, Cheng L. Implications of cancer stem cells in the treatment of cancer. Future Oncol 2006; 2: 723-31 7 Baeuerle PA, Gires 0. EpCAM (CD326) finding its role in cancer. Brit J Cancer 2007; 96: 417-23 8 Went P, Vasei M, Bubendorf L et al. Frequent high-level expression of the immunotherapeutic target Ep-CAM in colon, stomach, prostate and lung cancers. Br J Cancer 2006; 94: 128-135
About Micromet, Inc. (www.micromet-inc.com)
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel, proprietary antibody-based products for cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Two product candidates are currently in clinical trials. MT103/MEDI-538, which is the first product candidate based on Micromet's novel BiTE(R) product development platform, is being evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The BiTE product development platform is based on a unique, antibody-based format that leverages the cytotoxic potential of T cells, widely recognized as the most powerful 'killer cells' of the human immune system. Adecatumumab (MT201), a recombinant human monoclonal antibody which targets EpCAM expressing tumors, has completed two phase 2a clinical trials, one in patients with breast cancer and the other in patients with prostate cancer. In addition, a phase 1b trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of MT201 in combination with docetaxel is currently ongoing in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Micromet has established collaborations with MedImmune, Inc. for MT103/MEDI-538, Merck Serono for adecatumumab (MT201) and Nycomed for MT203.
Forward-Looking Statements
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Micromet, Inc.CONTACT: Chris Schnittker, SVP & CFO of Micromet, Inc., +1-240-752-1421,christopher.schnittker@micromet-inc.com; or Investors, Susan Noonan,+1-212-966-3650, susan@sanoonan.com, or Media, Pat Garrison,+1-917-322-2567, pgarrison@rxir.com, both for Micromet, Inc.
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