SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it will present new data from nonclinical studies of voreloxin at the upcoming AACR-EORTC-NCI Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics Conference, which is being held in Boston, MA from November 15-19, 2009. Clinical proof-of-mechanism is demonstrated in samples from patients treated with voreloxin in the Company’s ongoing Phase 2 clinical study of voreloxin in combination with cytarabine in relapsed or refractory AML. Studies also provide evidence of voreloxin’s synergistic and additive effects when combined with other acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatments, supporting the current combination study and identifying potential opportunities for further clinical evaluation.
Voreloxin is a first-in-class anticancer quinolone derivative, or AQD, a class of compounds that has not been used previously for the treatment of cancer. Voreloxin both intercalates DNA and inhibits topoisomerase II, resulting in replication-dependent, site-selective DNA damage, G2 arrest and apoptosis. Voreloxin is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial (known as the REVEAL-1 trial) in previously untreated elderly AML patients and in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial combining voreloxin with cytarabine for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory AML, as well as in an ongoing Phase 2 single-agent trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
AML is a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of immature blast cells in the bone marrow. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society estimates that nearly 13,000 new cases of AML will be diagnosed and approximately 9,000 deaths from AML will occur in the U.S. in 2009. AML is generally a disease of older adults, and the median age of a patient diagnosed with AML is about 67 years. AML patients with relapsed or refractory disease and newly diagnosed AML patients over 60 years of age with poor prognostic risk factors typically die within one year, resulting in an acute need for new treatment options for these patients.
Sunesis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new oncology therapeutics for the treatment of solid and hematologic cancers. Sunesis has built a highly experienced cancer drug development organization committed to advancing its lead product candidate, voreloxin, in multiple indications to improve the lives of people with cancer. For additional information on Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, please visit http://www.sunesis.com.
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
