Cellceutix Provides Updates on IND for Cancer Drug - Initiates Collaborative Agreement With Pioneer |
BEVERLY, MA--(Marketwire -12/13/11)- Cellceutix Corporation (OTC.BB: CTIX.OB - News) ("the Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule drugs to treat unmet medical conditions, today provided an update on the development of Kevetrin™, the Company's flagship anti-cancer compound. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reviewed the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Kevetrin™ and advised that the batch formulation is needed to be redone as a result of the ceasing of operations at Formatech, the company that produced the filled vials. Formatech filed for bankruptcy shortly before the IND filing. Cellceutix management has already identified an alternative formulation site with production planned for January 2012. Additionally, Cellceutix has been approached by the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, a Baystate Medical Center/University of Massachusetts Amherst Research Partnership ("the Institute"), to collaborate on an innovative research project on Kevetrin™. The Institute wishes to investigate Kevetrin's antitumor activity related to risk factor aging and, as such, Cellceutix has initiated a major study in collaboration with the Institute. Kevetrin™ has potent antitumor activity in several wild type and mutant p53 human tumor xenografts. It is well established that aging is a major risk factor for tumorigenesis. As mitochondrial function declines with age, it provides survival advantages to cancer cells. In mitochondrial respiration-deficient cells, p53 levels are reduced to undetectable levels. Since Kevetrin has been shown to be very effective in wild and mutant p53 tumors, it is highly desirable and important to understand Kevetrin's role in antitumor activity in the context of age-related mitochondrial dysfunction. This study will provide vital insight and may have a considerable impact on the treatment of tumors associated with mitochondrial dysfunction due to aging. Dr. Nagendra Yadava, a leader in mitochondrial disease and aging, in the Department of Biology at University of Massachusetts Amherst, will initially head the research. About Cellceutix To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of the Company's development, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Factors that may impact Cellceutix's success are more fully disclosed in Cellceutix's most recent public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. |