Cyclacel reports preclinical data of CYC065 for treatment of cancer, other serious diseases

Dec 6 2010

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:CYCC) (Nasdaq:CYCCP) ("Cyclacel" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company developing oral therapies that target the various phases of cell cycle control for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, announced today the presentation of new preclinical data for CYC065, a novel, orally-available, cell cycle kinase inhibitor. The data were reported at a poster presentation at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in Orlando, Florida.

"We are encouraged by the prospects of new multiple myeloma treatments, such as CYC065, that may act by modulation of cell cycle mechanisms, potentially expanding the range of therapeutic alternatives available to patients," said Noopur Raje, M.D., Director of the Center for Multiple Myeloma at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

"For over a decade Cyclacel has emerged as a leader in the study of cell cycle biology and the identification of novel anticancer drugs that exploit mechanisms of cell cycle control. We are excited about CYC065's promising anticancer activity in preclinical models of multiple myeloma," said Spiro Rombotis, Cyclacel's President & Chief Executive Officer. "CYC065 is part of Cyclacel's broad pipeline of novel drugs which may prove useful in treating hematological malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and multiple myeloma."

At ASH Dr. Raje and colleagues presented results of a study entitled, "CYC065, a Potent Derivative of Seliciclib Is Active In Multiple Myeloma In Preclinical Studies". The data demonstrate that CYC065 is cytotoxic at sub-micromolar concentrations against myeloma cell lines and CD138+ myeloma cells derived from patients. CYC065 demonstrated antiproliferative activity even in the presence of the growth stimulatory effects of both cytokines and stromal cells in the bone marrow.  CYC065 induced apoptosis in myeloma cells as evidenced by the appearance of cleaved PARP.

Cyclacel discovered CYC065 and other novel CDK inhibitors in collaboration with the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, UK.  CYC065 and other compounds in a related series target the same key CDK/cyclin complexes which are targeted by seliciclib. CYC065 retains the specificity and mechanism of action of seliciclib, but has increased anti-proliferative potency and improved pharmaceutical properties.  Investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies with CYC065 are in progress.