Date: 2014-09-26
Type of information: Publication of results in a medical journal
phase:
Announcement: publication of results in Cell
Company: Noxxon Pharma (Germany) Dana Farber Cancer Institute (USA - MA)
Product: olaptesed pegol (NOX-A12)
Action
mechanism: Olaptesed pegol/NOX-A12 specifically antagonizes CXCL12/SDF-1 (CXC Chemokine Ligand 12 / Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1), a chemokine which attracts and activates immune and non-immune cells including stem cells from the bone marrow. CXCL12 binds with high affinity to two chemokine receptors, CXCR4 and CXCR7. The CXCL12 / CXCR4 / CXCR7 axis has been shown to play a role in stem cell mobilization, vasculogenesis, tumor growth and metastasis. CXCL12 signaling has been shown to play an important role in the pathophysiology of CLL, especially in the interaction of leukemic cells with the tissue microenvironment. The therapeutic concept of NOX-A12 is to inhibit such tumor-supporting interactions and thereby sensitize CLL cells to chemotherapy.
Disease: multiple myeloma
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Country:
Trial details:
Latest
news: * On 26 September 2014, Noxxon Pharma announced the publication of a new study in Cell Reports, entitled “SDF-1 Inhibition Targets the Bone Marrow Niche for Cancer Therapy”. The study of the hematological malignancy multiple myeloma in a mouse model was conducted by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, Boston and Noxxon Pharma. Dr. Irene Ghobrial, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and her team, discovered that there is a high expression of a tumor cell-attracting messenger protein called stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1/CXCL12) in bone marrow of patients with active multiple myeloma as well as in metastatic bone marrow niches of patients with solid malignancies. The Spiegelmer® olaptesed pegol (a PEGylated mirror-image (L-)oligonucleotide) was identified at Noxxon Pharma to bind tightly and specifically to SDF-1. It was hypothesized that blocking SDF-1 with olaptesed pegol could lead to a less alluring signal coming from bone marrow niches, thereby attracting fewer tumor cells. Indeed, olaptesed pegol treatment resulted in a decrease of disease progression and a prolonged survival in translational mouse models of multiple myeloma.
