CytRx Announces Publication of Major Article Demonstrating That Its Proprietary Drug Target RIP140 Controls Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Tolerance
LOS ANGELES, February 02, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CytRx Corporation today announced publication of a significant research article that highlights for the first time that RIP140 suppression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) in cell culture or by gene-deletion in mice enhances glucose tolerance and insulin responsiveness. This CytRx-supported research further bolsters the potential utility of CytRx’s RNAi therapeutics development program that is designed to silence RIP140 as a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes. CytRx has exclusive rights to intellectual property covering a drug screening method targeting RIP140, a nuclear hormone corepressor that regulates fat accumulation.
The article, entitled “Suppression of oxidative metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis by the transcriptional corepressor RIP140 in mouse adipocytes,” was published in the January 2006 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Michael P. Czech, PhD, professor and chair of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Malcolm Parker, FMedSci of Imperial College London, are the principle authors of the article. CytRx is developing potential RNAi therapeutics based on Drs. Czech and Parker’s discovery as part of its exclusive license agreements with UMMS and Imperial Innovations Ltd., a subsidiary company of Imperial College London that provides business development and technology transfer services.
“This important research published in a highly regarded peer-reviewed journal extends upon earlier work by Drs. Czech and Parker that demonstrated the critical role of RIP140 in obesity, and serves to further validate RIP140 as an important drug target for type 2 diabetes,” said Steven A. Kriegsman, President and CEO of CytRx. “Furthermore, this publication substantiates the value of our RNAi platform technology for the discovery of novel drug targets, as RIP140 is one of the protein targets identified by the proprietary screening technology that we’ve licensed from UMMS. By working with these distinguished scientific advisors, and applying our internal discovery program to advance RNAi therapeutics targeting RIP140, we want to rapidly complete the remaining pre-clinical tests that, if successful, would allow us to advance a RIP140 therapeutic into the clinic.”
Dr. Czech, who also serves as Chairman of the CytRx Metabolic Scientific Advisory Board, added, “Our paper reports that depletion of RIP140 in vivo can improve responsiveness to insulin under circumstances such as a high-fat diet, where normal animals develop insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. We are encouraged that our results indicate that RIP140 appears to be an ideal target for developing RNAi therapeutics to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.”
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that worldwide more than 1 billion adults are overweight and at least 300 million of them are clinically obese. WHO cites overweight and obesity as major contributors to the growing incidence of chronic diet-related diseases and disabilities, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, obesity-related deaths rose 33% to an estimated 400,000 between 1990 and 2000. A recent Rand study found that by 2020, approximately one in five healthcare dollars spent on people aged 50 to 70 will be due to obesity-related disabilities, if the current trend of overeating and inactivity continues.
About CytRx Corporation
CytRx Corporation is a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of products. The Company owns three clinical-stage compounds based on its small molecule “molecular chaperone” co-induction technology, as well as a targeted library of 500 small molecule drug candidates that may be used to screen for new drug candidates. CytRx has initiated a Phase II clinical trial with its lead small molecule product candidate arimoclomol for the treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease). Arimoclomol has received Orphan Drug and Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. CytRx has previously announced that a novel HIV DNA + protein vaccine exclusively licensed to CytRx and developed by researchers at UMMS and Advanced BioScience Laboratories, and funded by the National Institutes of Health, demonstrated very promising interim Phase I clinical trial results that indicate its ability to produce potent antibody responses with neutralizing activity against multiple HIV viral strains. For more information, visit CytRx’s Web site at www.cytrx.com.
About the University of Massachusetts Medical School
The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $174 million in research funding annually, 80% of which comes from federal funding sources. Research funding enables UMMS scientists to explore human disease from the molecular level to large-scale clinical trials. Basic and clinical research leads to new approaches for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Visit www.umassmed.edu for additional information.
About Imperial Innovations Ltd.
Imperial Innovations is one of the United Kingdom’s leading technology commercialization companies, having created over 54 spin-out companies and concluded 100 licence agreements. Imperial Innovations is committed to the creating of wealth for its shareholders, and the company’s mission to match the outstanding quality of research at Imperial College London with excellence in technology transfer.
About Imperial College London
Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial College London is a world leading science-based university whose reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students (11,000) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that enhance the quality of life and the environment — underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture. Website: www.imperial.ac.uk
