Tarsa Therapeutics Inc. announced that a Phase 2 trial of its oral recombinant salmon calcitonin in the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis was successfully concluded and yielded statistically significant, clinically relevant improvements in bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine. These data were presented at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) 2012 Annual Meeting by Phase 2 investigator Neil Binkley, MD, who is an associate professor of endocrinology and Geriatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin.....
Med-Chemist : "Quintessential Medicinal Chemistry"
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
T-DM1 Extends Overall Survival | News | Drug Discovery and Development Magazine
We know that,Trastuzumab emtansine (INN, also called trastuzumab-DM1 or trastuzumab-MCC-DM1, abbreviated T-DM1) is an antibody-drug conjugate consisting of the antibody trastuzumab (the active ingredient in Herceptin) linked to a cytotoxic agent that is a derivative of maytansine (DM1).
It is in clinical trials for breast cancer, especially of the HER2 positive type.
Early results in Nov 2011 from an open-label phase II trial on 137
patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer were very
encouraging.
EMILIA, a phase III trial of 991 people with HER2-positive
unresectable locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, comparing
T-DM1 versus capecitabine plus lapatanib in patients previously treated
with trastuzumab and a taxane chemotherapy, showed improved progression
free survival in patients treated with T-DM1 (median 9.6 vs. 6.4 months)
with an improved safety profile. The study sponsor reported in August
2012 that T-DM1 significantly improved survival in the EMILIA study and
that the details will be reported at an upcoming medical meeting
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
FDA Approves Oxtellar...
We know that, Oxcarbazepine is an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizing drug, used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy. It is also used to treat anxiety and mood disorders, and benign motor tics. Oxcarbazepine is marketed as Trileptal by Novartis and available in some countries as a generic drug.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Empagliflozin Lowers Blood Pressure | News | Drug Discovery and Development Magazine
We know that, Empagliflozin (see structure) is a SGLT2 inhibitor which is being investigated in clinical trials for the oral treatment of type 2 diabetes by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company. It is an inhibitor of the sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2), which is found almost exclusively in the proximal tubules of nephronic components in the kidneys. SGLT-2 accounts for about 90 percent of glucose reabsorption into the blood. Blocking SGLT-2 causes blood glucose to be eliminated through the urine via the urethra...
Empagliflozin Lowers Blood Pressure | News | Drug Discovery and Development Magazine ....
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Aveo Files Tivozanib NDA | News | Drug Discovery and Development Magazine
We know that, Tivozanib (see structure below, AV-951) is an oral VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. It is undergoing clinical trial investigation for the treatment of renal cell carcinomas.An oral quinoline urea derivative, tivozanib suppresses angiogenesis by being selectively inhibitory against vascular endothelial growth factor. It was developed by AVEO Pharmaceuticals.It is designed to inhibit all three VEGF receptors. Phase III results on advanced renal cell carcinoma suggest a 30% or 3 months improvement in median PFS compared tosorafenib.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Synta announces results from ganetespib Phase 2b trial on NSCLC
In continuation of my update on Ganetespib....
"The preliminary results from GALAXY indicate that the addition of ganetespib to docetaxel is well tolerated and may improve outcomes in patients compared to docetaxel alone," said Dr. Ramalingam, a Principal Investigator of the study. "This includes promising improvements in survival seen across the broad adenocarcinoma population as well as in key predefined patient populations. A well-tolerated combination regimen that extends survival associated with salvage therapy in NSCLC will meet a much awaited need to improve the current standard of care."
As per the CEO's statement "the objective of the interim analysis was to identify the best choice of patient population and trial design for transitioning to the Phase 3 stage of the study. The broad-based activity seen in the results presented support advancing into the Phase 3 stage in alladenocarcinoma patients. The results have yielded a rich data set which we are using to optimize and de-risk the Phase 3 stage of the program. We are hopeful that this next stage of development will lead to a new treatment option for patients fighting this devastating disease."
Enrollment completion of the Phase 2b stage of the GALAXY trial and the transition to the Phase 3 stage are expected later this year. Based on current assumptions, the Company anticipates that Phase 3 will enroll approximately 500 adenocarcinoma patients, with overall survival as a primary endpoint. Biomarker findings and other patient selection and treatment experience from the Phase 2b stage will be incorporated into the design of the Phase 3 stage. An announcement with additional Phase 3 details is anticipated later this year, following discussion with regulatory agencies.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Drug combinations show promise against metastatic melanoma
In continuation of my update on Vemurafenib..
A Phase I study in 44 patients shows that the combination of the MEK inhibitor GDC-0973 (see structure) and vemurafenib can be delivered safely, Dr Rene Gonzalez of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Denver, and colleagues report.
"BRAF inhibition has resulted in high response rates and improved survival in patients with BRAF mutated melanoma," Dr Gonzalez said. "One of several mechanisms of resistance has been reactivation of the MAPK pathway. Preclinical models show that combined inhibition of BRAF and MEK can delay the acqusition of resistance compared to BRAF inhibitor monotherapy. Inhibition of the pathway downstream from BRAF with the MEK inhibitor GDC-0973 could theoretically overcome or delay this resistance mechanism and improve outcomes."
The study was not designed to evalate efficacy. "While early data in a small number of patients did show tumor reduction, it would be premature to comment on efficacy based on these preliminary results and further research is warranted," Dr Gonzalez said.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
ARIAD announces initial results from AP26113 Phase 1/2 trial on non-small cell lung cancer
We know that, AP26113 (see structure) is a highly potent ALK inhibitor with IC50 of 0.62 nM. As an ALK inhibitor, AP26113 overcomes mutation-based resistance in NSCLC models. Multiple mutations in ALK were identified that conferred resistance to crizotinib, but not AP26113, including the L1196M "gatekeeper" mutation which has now been observed clinically in patients who initially responded to crizotinib and then relapsed. AP26113 also inhibits activated EGFR in preclinical models, including the T790M "gatekeeper" mutant that confers resistance to current EGFR inhibitors. Constitutive EGFR activity due to activating mutation is a key feature of certain non-small cell lung cancers, and the T790M mutation causes resistance to inhibitor therapy in approximately 50 percent of these cases. In preclinical studies, AP26113 was shown to be specific for mutated EGFR and avoids inhibition of native (endogenous or unmutated) EGFR; such inhibition is thought to be associated with the toxicity of other EGFR inhibitors.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Beating Drug-Resistant TB.....
An antibiotic produced naturally by common soil bacteria kills Mycobacterium species that cause various human diseases, including tuberculosis (TB), according to a report published Monday (September 17) in EMBO Molecular Medicine. The antibiotic even kills drug-resistant strains that escape current TB treatments.
“I seldom get so tickled when I read a paper,” said William Jacobs, a microbiologist and immunologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who did not participate in the research. The emergence of multidrug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis “is a big problem,” he said. “This could be a godsend.”
Tuberculosis infections are commonly treated with a mixture of antibiotics, including one called isoniazid, which Jacobs described as “the cornerstone of TB therapy.” Unfortunately, the most common drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis are isoniazid-resistant, he said.
Many researchers, including Stewart Cole, chair of the microbial pathogenesis department at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, have thus been searching for new M. tuberculosis-killing drugs. “In the past we’ve been working a lot on TB drug discovery using target-based approaches… [but] this has been spectacularly unsuccessful,” said Cole. So instead, he and his colleagues looked back over decades of academic literature searching for reports of natural compounds with M. tuberculosis-killing activity.
They found pyridomycin (see above structure). First described in the 1950s, the drug was reportedly produced by the bacteria Streptomyces pyridomyceticus and Dactylosporangium fulvum. Surprisingly, little was known about pyridomycin—perhaps, Cole suggested, because isoniazid was discovered around the same time and simply stole the limelight.
Cole’s team grew cultures of D. fulvum bacteria, figured out how to isolate and purify pyridomycin, and then showed that the drug was indeed capable of killing M. tuberculosis, as well as many otherMycobacterium species, in culture.
This indiscriminate Mycobacterium-killing ability is a bonus, said Cole. “One of the problems with isoniazid is that it only works against TB,” he said. “If pyridomycin makes it into the clinic, it could have applications in leprosy or Buruli ulcer or atypical mycobacterial infections that can occur in cystic fibrosis patients.”
The team went on to identify the bactericidal target of pyridomycin—a protein called inhA, which is involved in synthesis of bacterial cell wall components. As it happens, inhA is the same protein targeted by isoniazid, but there is a difference in the two drugs’ mechanisms. While isoniazid is a pro-drug that requires activation by an intracellular enzyme called KatG before it can bind to inhA, pyridomycin binds inhA directly.
This is an important distinction, explained Valerie Mizrahi, director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at Cape Town University, South Africa, who was not involved in the study. The overwhelming majority of drug resistance mutations in M. tuberculosis occur in the KatGgene, she explained, and such mutant strains should not be resistant to pyridomycin. Indeed, the team showed that clinical isolates of isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis carrying KatG mutations were killed effectively by pyridomycin. “The efficacy against drug resistant forms of M. tuberculosis is particularly encouraging,” Mizrahi said.
There is, however, much to be done before pyridomycin can be used in the clinic. “We would [need to] test that it works in animal models and that it is safe and doesn’t have any side effects,” said Cole. “That will take a couple of years.”
“It’s a long journey,” agreed Mizrahi, “but the big plus is that they don’t really need to validate inhA as a drug target because inhA is already the most well validated drug target out there… [so] it has got a good head start.”
Ref : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/emmm.201201689/abstract
Friday, October 12, 2012
FDA approves Enzalutamide (XTANDI Capsules)
Enzalutamide (marketed as Xtandi and formerly known as MDV3100) is an androgen receptor antagonist drug developed by the pharmaceutical company Medivation for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer currently in phase 3 clinical trials. Medivation has reported up to an 89% decrease in prostate specific antigen serum levels after a month of taking the medicine. Early preclinical studies also suggest that enzalutamide inhibits breast cancer cell growth. In August of 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved enzalutamide (see structure) for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer......
Approved Drugs > Enzalutamide (XTANDI Capsules)
Thursday, October 11, 2012
GenSpera plans to initiate G-202 Phase II trial in prostate cancer
We know that, a Mediterranean plant (see pic), Thapsia garganica, a simple weed, is the original source of G202. For millennia, the plant has been known to be poisonous to animals; in the days of desert caravans, it was called the “death carrot” for the unfortunate fate awaiting any camel that ingested it. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in the US and their Danish collaborators hoped to harness the toxicity of the plant in a controlled way that could be used to treat cancer in people.
They did so by taking apart the toxic compound, thapsigargin, produced by the plant and altering its chemical structure. The resulting prodrug, G202, is not active until it comes into contact with a particular protein produced by certain tumors. This prostate-specific membrane antigen (PMSA) is released by cells lining the outside of prostate and other tumors. Samuel Denmeade, the study’s lead author, uses the image of a hand grenade. The presence of PMSA essentially “pulls the pin” of the G202 grenade. In its active form, the drug is able to kill not only the tumor, but the blood vessels that provide it with nutrients.
A recent study of G202, looked at the effects of the drug on human prostate tumors grown in mice, and compared it to docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug already in use. G202 clearly came out on top, reducing by half the size of seven out of nine tumors; docetaxel achieved the same effect on only one out of eight tumors. Similar results for G202 were also seen in experiments with human breast, kidney and bladder cancer.
These promising results encouraged doctors to test the safety of G202 in a phase I clinical trial, involving 29 cancer patients at advanced stages of the disease.
Now its good news that,......
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Potential new COPD drug
A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has shown that a compound used in some skin creams may halt the progression of emphysema and reverse some of the damage caused by the disease. When the compound Gly-His-Lys (GHK) was applied to lung cells from patients with emphysema, normal gene activity in altered cells was restored and damaged aspects of cellular function were repaired.
Researchers took cells from lungs donated by patients undergoing a double lung transplant because their lungs were irrevocably damaged by COPD and found 127 genes had changes in activity as disease severity increased within the lung. The genes that showed increased activity included several that are associated with inflammation, such as those involved in signalling to B-cells (the immune system cells that make antibodies).
In contrast, the genes involved in maintaining cellular structure and normal cellular function, along with the growth factors TGFβ and VEGF, were down-regulated and showed decreased activity. Genes that control the ability of the cells to stick together (cell adhesion), produce the protein matrix that normally surrounds the cells and promote the normal association between lung cells and blood vessels were among the genes in this category.
Using genomic technologies and computational methods, the researchers identified genetic activity defects that occur as emphysema progresses and matched these defects with compounds that could reverse the damage.
"Our study results showed that the way genes were affected by the compound GHK, a drug identified in the 1970s, was the complete opposite of the pattern we had seen in the cells damaged by emphysema," said Marc Lenburg, PhD, associate professor in computational biomedicine and bioinformatics at BUSM and one of the study's senior authors.
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