Akinion Pharmaceuticals announces the publication of preclinical results of AKN-028
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - August 6, 2012. Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB, a Karolinska Development AB portfolio company, today announced that the article ”The novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor AKN-028 has significant antileukemic activity in cell lines and primary cultures of acute myeloid leukemia” by Eriksson A. et al., has been published online in Blood Cancer Journal at www.nature.com/bcj.
AKN-028 is a targeted, orally available, small molecule FLT3 and cKIT kinase inhibitor currently in a Phase I/II clinical trial. The published article describes the preclinical activity of AKN-028 on cell lines and primary tumor cells. Its anti-leukemic effect on all types of primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples tested, including chemotherapy resistant tumors, clearly differentiates AKN-028 from other FLT3 inhibitors. The reported possible sequence dependent synergy of AKN-028 with standard AML drugs supports a future development of AKN-028 in combination therapies in addition to the use as a single drug treatment.
About 42 000 new cases of AML are diagnosed in the US, EU and Japan each year and deaths from AML total about 30 000. The 5-year survival rate is only 34 percent for adults aged below 65 and 4 percent for those aged 65 or older. Current treatments include chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, but no targeted treatments are approved yet.
Dr. Carl Harald Janson, CEO, Akinion Pharmaceuticals: “The results described in the article clearly differentiates AKN-028 and supports the ongoing clinical trial. In particular the effect seen on chemotherapy resistant tumors could be of significant importance when treating a disease with few therapeutic alternatives.”
For further information, please contact: Carl Harald Janson, CEO Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB
Phone: +46 (0) 70 226 91 52, e-mail: carlharald.janson@akinion.com
TO THE EDITORS
About Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB
Akinion Pharmaceuticals AB is a Swedish biotech company founded in 2009. The company is developing kinase receptor inhibitors for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Akinion Pharmaceuticals is part of the Karolinska Development portfolio of companies. For more information, please visit www.akinion.com
About Karolinska Development AB
Karolinska Development aims to create value for investors, patients, and researchers by developing innovations from world class science into products that can be sold or out-licensed with high returns. The business model is to: SELECT the most commercially attractive medical innovations; DEVELOP innovations to the stage where the greatest return on investment can be achieved; and COMMERCIALIZE the innovations through the sale of companies or out-licensing of products. An exclusive deal flow agreement with Karolinska Institutet Innovations AB, along with other cooperation agreements with leading Nordic universities, delivers a continuous flow of innovations. Today, the portfolio consists of 35 projects, of which 14 are in clinical development. For more information, please visit www.karolinskadevelopment.com.