For
Immediate Release
October 7, 2003
For
more information, contact:
Laura Kalies at lkalies@sitcancer.org
NEW CANCER DRUG DEVELOPMENT TO BE PRESENTED AT sitc MEETING
(Milwaukee)-The 18th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (sitc) will be held October 30-November 2, 2003, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. This scientific meeting will feature an abstract entitled "Epithelial Growth Factor-Activation Protein, A Novel Target for Cancer Treatment Validated by siRNA Mediated Gene Knockdown In Vivo."
This abstract presentation, being held Saturday, November 1, 2003, will demonstrate data from a collaborative effort by scientists from Intradigm Corporation and the University of Pittsburgh. This research will characterize a novel target for cancer drug development, named Epithelial Growth Factor-Activation Protein (EGF-AP).
"Developing new treatments for cancer is one of the most important challenges pharmaceutical and biotech companies face-a significant bottleneck is discovery of key targets for drug intervention," said Frank Y. Xie, PhD, Director of Genomics and International Operations at Intradigm Corporation who will present the abstract on during a Genomics Session at the sitc Meeting.
EGF-AP was discovered and validated utilizing Intradigm's in vivo delivery technology for siRNA. Candidate therapeutics for this target include monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, and potentially siRNA. By using Intradigm's Efficacy-First discovery method, the novel membrane-bound protein EGF-AP was identified for its association with accelerated growth of human breast tumors and validated as a target using Intradigm's Disease-Control validation method showing anti-tumor efficacy.
Silencing EGF-AP was found to increase apoptosis along with a shut-down of activated MAP kinase indicating that EGF-AP plays a key role in growth factor activation of tumorigenesis and illustrating the opportunity mAB inhibitors offer to improve breast cancer treatment.
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The Society for Biological Therapy was founded in 1984 with 40 charter members. The Society currently has over 450 members consisting primarily of MDs, PhDs, RNs, and corporate representatives. The purpose and mission of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (sitc) is to bring together those individuals actively involved in the preclinical and clinical investigation of biological agents in the treatment of cancer. Scientific and business meetings have been held annually since the first Annual Meeting of SBT in 1986. At the 2002 business meeting held November 9, 2002, the SBT membership voted to officially change the name of the Society and it thus became the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (sitc).
Intradigm Corporation is a privately held Delaware corporation that is discovering and developing therapeutic products by applying proprietary in vivo RNAi delivery technologies. Intradigm's Efficacy-First Discovery and Disease-Control Validation methods are based on extensive nucleic acid delivery capabilities that, when combined with RNAi and animal disease models, provide rapid and effective discovery and validation of drug targets giving efficacy in clinically relevant disease models. Intradigm has a growing portfolio of novel targets for cancer therapeutics and associated candidate therapeutic agents including antibodies, small molecules, and siRNA. Investors include Emerging Technology Partners, Novartis Venture Fund and the State of Maryland's Business and Economic Development Department. Intradigm is located in the Association for Entrepreneurial Sciences Inc. facilities in Rockville, MD.
