Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC QB: SGYP), a developer of new drugs to treat gastrointestinal (GI) disorders and diseases, today announced that poster P409 presented at the upcoming 2011 annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology highlights the potential use of guanylate cyclase-C agonists to delay progression of colitis into colon cancer. Poster P409 was selected as an "ACG Presidential Award Winning Poster", a recognition given to the most highly ranked abstracts selected for poster sessions in each category. The work reported in poster P409 was a collaborative effort between Synergy scientists and the scientists from Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Drs. Margie Clapper, Wen-Chi Chang and Harry Cooper.
It is well known that patients with both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are at an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). A contributing factor to this increased risk appears to be persistent inflammation of the colon.
"We believe that the therapeutic application of GC-C agonists to ameliorate GI inflammation has the potential to delay progression into colon cancer, providing an innovative approach to the treatment of GI inflammatory diseases and prevention of colon cancer," said Dr. Kunwar Shailubhai, Chief Scientific Officer of Synergy Pharmaceuticals. "Our continued research efforts are focused on exploring GC-C agonists as orally safe drugs to treat GI inflammation and also control its progression to colon cancer."
These findings represent a significant breakthrough in the clinical care of patients with inflammatory bowel disease, according to Dr. Margie Clapper, Co-Leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Intervention with GC-C agonists early in the disease process is expected to block the formation of colon tumors as well as circumvent the need for hundreds of biopsies and, in some cases, major surgery.
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