CombinatoRx presents encouraging results from its A2A and b2AR agonist programs for B-cell malignancies

CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) today announced that preclinical data from its Adenosine A2A receptor (A2A) and Beta-2 Adrenergic Receptor (b2AR) Agonist oncology programs demonstrated synergistic anti-cancer activity when combined with standard-of-care therapies in multiple myeloma and other B-cell malignancies. These data, which demonstrate the benefit of the CombinatoRx combination high-throughput screening technology, were presented at the American Society for Hematology (ASH) 2009 Annual Meeting in New Orleans on December 7, 2009.

Key findings of the preclinical data include:

• A2A or b2AR agonists, exhibit highly synergistic anti-proliferative activity when combined with standard-of-care multiple myeloma therapies, such as dexamethasone, lenalidomide, bortezomib, melphalan and doxorubicin at clinically relevant concentrations.
• Synergy of the combinations was maintained in cells after chronic exposure with either single agent potentially reducing emergence of drug resistance.
• Synergistic combinations of A2A and b2AR agonists are highly selective for B-cell malignancies and in particular, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Substantial combination activity is observed in several cell lines resistant to standard-of-care agents.
• Synergistic drug combinations improve therapeutically relevant selectivity and can circumvent drug resistance.
• New insights into the potential molecular mechanism of action of these novel combinations have been identified using gene expression profiling.

“This data on the CombinatoRx A2A and b2AR agonist programs for the treatment of B-cell malignancies including drug resistant multiple myeloma is very encouraging,” said Robert Forrester, Interim President and CEO of CombinatoRx. “More broadly, the data presented at ASH underscores the utility of the CombinatoRx systematic combination screening technology in the identification and evaluation of pathway and chemical interactions relevant to disease.”