DALLAS, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Dartmouth Medical School have presented preclinical study results showing that one of Reata’s synthetic triterpenoids significantly reduced the formation and growth of liver tumors in rats.
In this study, rats were treated with RTA 403 (also known as CDDO-IM) and exposed to a potent natural carcinogen known as aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is produced by a mold affecting agricultural crops and causes the formation of liver tumors in rats and in humans. Dietary exposure to aflatoxin, especially in the presence of chronic viral hepatitis, is a major cause of liver cancer in Asia and many other parts of the world.
When RTA 403 was administered both before and after exposure to aflatoxin, the number of premalignant nodules in the liver was reduced by 85% (at the lowest dose) to 99% (at the highest dose). The presence of such nodules is highly correlated with development of cancerous liver tumors, and inhibiting their formation is of high clinical significance. This study was conducted at Johns Hopkins by Dr. Melinda Yates, an associate in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Kensler.
Researchers attribute the cancer preventive effects of RTA 403 to the activation of Nrf2, a gene that regulates important antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes with the cell. RTA 403 and Reata’s other synthetic triterpenoids have been shown in previous studies to be highly potent activators of this pathway.
“This series of drugs was originally conceived and synthesized at Dartmouth by Drs. Michael Sporn, Tadashi Honda, and Gordon Gribble, as potent cancer prevention agents,” said Warren Huff, Reata’s CEO. “These striking in vivo data indicate these drugs do indeed hold great promise for preventing, as well as treating, cancer. Reata looks forward to collaborating with the outstanding researchers at John Hopkins and Dartmouth to fully understand and exploit the full potential of this exciting new class of targeted therapies for cancer.”
Further details about the liver cancer prevention study can be found in the conference proceedings from the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR).
About Reata’s Synthetic Triterpenoids
Reata is developing a series of synthetic triterpenoids discovered by researchers at Dartmouth College and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. These agents are potential first-in-class targeted cancer therapies with a unique mechanism of action. They bind to redox-sensitive “sulfhydryl switches” and modify the activity of proteins that regulate inflammation, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. These effects kill cancer cells but induce protective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses in normal cells. In addition to their cancer-preventing properties, these agents have been shown in preclinical studies to inhibit growth (and cause regression) of tumors as single agents and in combination with radiation and chemotherapy, and to suppress radiation-induced mucositis and chemotherapy- induced toxicity in normal tissues. They caused minimal toxicity in IND- directed studies in higher mammals.
The lead agent in this series, RTA 401 (also known as CDDO), is being tested in a phase 1 clinical study in patients with relapsed and refractory leukemias at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. A second analogue, RTA 402 (also known as CDDO-Me) will begin clinical testing in patients with solid tumors in the first quarter of 2006. RTA 403, the third analogue in this series, is in mid-stage preclinical development.
About Reata
Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel treatments for cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases. Founded in 2002, Reata is developing five distinct classes of cancer drugs licensed from leading academic institutions. The company’s most advanced products, RTA 744 for primary brain cancer and RTA 401 for hematological cancers and solid tumors, are in phase 1 clinical development. An IND for a third product, RTA 402, is slated for filing at the end of 2005. Reata is matching its clinical and preclinical drug development programs with a best-of-class drug discovery platform to identify small molecule chaperones that can correct misfolding and malfunction of p53, SOD, and Tau, proteins that play a central role in the pathology of cancer and neurodegenerative disease.
Reata will be presenting data on several of its programs, including the synthetic triterpenoids, at the upcoming BioEurope annual meeting and the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
For more information, please see http://www.reatapharma.com .
Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Warren Huff of Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc., +1-972-865-2200, orwarren.huff@reatapharma.com
Web site: http://www.reatapharma.com/
