MONTREAL, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Procyon Biopharma Inc. (TSX:PBP) announced today that it will be presenting the Company's most recent clinical and preclinical developments in oncology at three major healthcare conferences, namely, the American Urology Association's (AUA) Annual Meeting, the 96th Annual Meeting American of the Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. The Company will thus initiate an awareness campaign for its PSP94-based test kits for prostate cancer which were recently out-licensed to Medicorp Inc. and it will also present the latest data on PCK3145, its treatment for advanced metastatic prostate cancer.
"We attribute a great deal of value to these six scientific presentations as they validate our development work through peer-recognition. Moreover, these presentations will provide us with great opportunities to create awareness within the scientific community for our PSP94 test kits which we recently licensed out to Medicorp", said Hans J. Mader, President and Chief Executive Officer of Procyon Biopharma Inc. "The past months at Procyon were marked by tremendous achievements with our oncology pipeline as we further elucidated the mechanism-of-action of PCK3145 while proving that our PSP94 test kits may be of clinical utility for the diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of prostate cancer", he added.
About the PSP94-based test kits presentations
Many members from the medical community have recognized the need to identify new diagnostic and prognostic markers for prostate cancer that are more accurate than the existing tests. Procyon has developed new simple blood tests that specifically measure the free form of PSP94 (unbound to binding proteins) and the total form of PSP94 (bound and unbound to binding proteins) as well as the total PSP94 binding protein. The determination of the ratio of free PSP94 and PSP94 bound to PSPBP is believed to have utility for the diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of prostate cancer.
Recent studies to be presented at the upcoming meetings showed that Procyon's PSP94-based test kits were able to differentiate between patients with prostate cancer and patients with benign conditions among patients who underwent a prostate biopsy. Thus, Procyon's PSP94-based test kits have the potential to reduce the number of repeat prostate biopsies thus reducing the associated cost and morbidity and infection risk.
The latest results also indicate that PSP94-based test kits were able to identify patients suffering from a more aggressive disease. PSP94 was found to be a strong predictor of relapse post-radiotherapy as well as following radical prostatectomy. Furthermore, the PSP94 tests were independently significant tests for predicting positive and negative biopsies adjusting for percentage free PSA (p less than 0.01).
The Company's most recent developments will be presented at the following meetings.
Dr. Robert K. Nam, MD FRCSC, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Urology at the Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto and a collaborator to Procyon, will give an oral presentation (No. 6195) entitled "A Novel Serological Marker, Prostate Secretory Protein-94 (PSP94), Enhances Prostate Cancer Detection and Identifies Patients with Aggressive Prostate Cancer Better Than PSA or Free:Total PSA" at the American Urology Association (AUA), San Antonio. The presentation will be held on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 at 3:30 PM.
Dr. Chandra J. Panchal, Senior Executive Vice President, New Technologies at Procyon, will present a poster (No. 3166) entitled "Total PSP94 assay: A novel prostate cancer diagnostic test" at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim. The session will be held on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 1:00 PM.
Dr. Jim W. Xuan, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Physiology and Pathology, University of Western Ontario and Director, Urology Research Laboratory, London Health Sciences Centre and a collaborator to Procyon, will present a poster (No. 1962) entitled "Establishment of a Serum Tumor Marker for Pre-clinical Trials of Mouse Prostate Cancer Models" at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim. The session will be held on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 8:00 AM.
Dr. Jonathan Reeves, Senior Research Scientist at Procyon, will present a poster (No. 4632) entitled "Prognostic value of serum PSP94 (prostate secretory protein of 94 amino acids) and its binding protein (PSPBP) after radical prostatectomy" at the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting in Orlando. The session will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 8:00 AM.
About the PCK3145 therapeutic peptide presentations
PCK3145 is Procyon lead therapeutic peptide for the treatment of advanced metastatic prostate cancer for which the Company recently received the US Food and Drug Administration clearance to initiate a clinical Pilot study followed by a Phase IIb trial spearheaded by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Results from a clinical Phase IIa study confirm the safety, tolerability and the preliminary efficacy of PCK3145. The most dramatic and unexpected results were shown in the plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a gelatinase B enzyme involved in extracellular matrix degradation and tumor invasion (metastasis). A normalization of the levels was observed in all patients with elevated MMP-9 levels at baseline, while no significant change was observed after the first cycle in patients with normal baseline MMP-9 levels.
In light of these results, Procyon conducted further preclinical work which showed the efficacy of PCK3145 in reducing tumor volume and delaying the development of skeletal metastases in an animal model of prostate cancer. Moreover, Procyon's scientists and collaborators recently discovered that PCK3145 interferes with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) signaling pathway which is critical to angiogenesis and subsequent metastasis. Thus, studies to date suggest that PCK3145 shows a potential dual effect by restoring normal cell growth through inducing apoptosis and inhibiting the metastatic process through regulating MMP-9 levels.
PCK3145's most recent clinical and preclinical developments will be presented at the following meetings.
Dr. Panchal will present a poster (No. 3021) entitled "A prostate secretory protein 94 (PSP94)-derived synthetic peptide (PCK3145) antagonizes VEGF signaling in endothelial cells: Implication in tumor angiogenesis" at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim. The session will be held on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 3:00 PM.
Dr. Panchal will also present a poster (No. 5835) entitled "Inhibition of angiogenesis and MMP-9 production by a synthetic peptide (PCK3145) in a syngeneic model of rat prostate cancer results in decreased tumor growth and skeletal metastasis in vitro and in vivo" at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Anaheim. The session will be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at 8:00 AM.
Furthermore, an abstract entitled "A synthetic peptide, PCK3145, for the treatment of hormone refractory prostate cancer" was approved for publication in the proceedings of the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting in Orlando.
About Procyon Biopharma
Procyon Biopharma Inc. is a biotechnology company actively engaged in the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics in the fields of cancer and HIV/AIDS. The Company leverages its strengths in research and clinical development, bringing products through late-stage clinical trials and then evaluating the best options for further development, such as partnerships and licensing. Procyon's pipeline includes: PCK3145, a non-toxic peptide soon to enter a Phase II North American trial for advanced metastatic prostate cancer; PPL-100, a protease inhibitor for drug-resistant HIV/AIDS soon to enter the clinic; and Fibrostat(R), a topical cream for the management of hypertrophic scars. Headquartered in Montreal, Procyon shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the ticker symbol PBP. ( http://www.procyonbiopharma.com/ )
This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current expectation regarding future events. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, changing market conditions, successful and timely completion of clinical studies, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process, establishment of corporate alliances and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings.
PROCYON BIOPHARMA INC.CONTACT: Christian Marcoux, M.Sc., Director, Communications, ProcyonBiopharma Inc., (514) 685-2000, cmarcoux@procyonbiopharma.com