WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Aegera Therapeutics Inc. and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) today jointly announced the execution of an agreement for $3.3 million (U.S.) to support an international Phase I/II clinical trial. The trial is for Aegera’s AEG35156, a targeted therapy for blood cancer patients with follicular lymphoma (FL), small lymphocytic lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
“CLL and FL, collectively, represent approximately 30 percent of the more than 73,000 non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases diagnosed annually in the United States and Canada,” said Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., LLS chief scientific officer. “Current conventional therapy is non-curative in these patient populations. Our goal is to bring new therapies to patients. The partnership with Aegera accelerates the clinical testing of a novel blood cancer therapy and brings us closer to that goal.”
The clinical trials will take place in Canada and the United States.
“We are very honoured to have been selected by LLS to support our novel therapeutic approach to potentially treat CLL and FL,” said Michael J. Berendt, Ph.D., president and CEO, Aegera Therapeutics. “AEG35156 is a second generation antisense compound that targets the knockdown of XIAP, a key inhibitor of apoptosis in cancerous cells. This funding greatly enhances our ability to quickly test the effectiveness of this innovative targeted therapy in clinical trials.”
The agreement marks the first clinical trial announced under LLS’s Therapy Acceleration Program, an innovative program designed to advance therapies with high prospects of providing near-term benefit to patients suffering from blood cancers.
About Aegera Therapeutics Inc.
Aegera Therapeutics is a well-funded, clinical-stage, Canadian biotechnology company focused on developing drugs that control apoptosis to address major, unmet medical needs. Aegera has four programs in clinical development for oncology and pain, including AEG35156, a second-generation antisense compound that targets the knockdown of XIAP, a key inhibitor of apoptosis in cancerous cells. Details of Aegera’s programs can be viewed at www.aegera.com.
About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society(R), headquartered in White Plains, NY, with 68 chapters in the United States and Canada, is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $550 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, LLS made 5.1 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.
For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the LLS Information Resource Center (IRC), a call center staffed by master’s level social workers, nurses and health educators who provide information, support and resources to patients and their families and caregivers. IRC information specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.
CONTACT: LLS Contact, Andrea Greif, +1-914-821-8958, andrea.greif@lls.org;
or Aegera Contact, Catherine So, +1-514-288-4091 (225),
catherine.so@aegera.com
Web site: http://www.LLS.org/
http://www.aegera.com/
