Perth, Australia, 16 November 2015: Phylogica Limited (ASX:PYC) has successfully identified multiple proprietary Phylomer candidates with confirmed ability to bind and block intracellular MYC activity. Notably, two of these Phylogica candidates exhibit better killing activity in cancer cells than the previous gold-standard OmoMYC when fused to Phylogica’s proprietary cell penetrating Phylomers.
Richard Hopkins, Phylogica’s CEO said “We’re delighted to have identified at least two proprietary Phylomers that represent the most potent inhibitors of MYC yet described. This outcome is a testament to the power of the Phylomer platform which has unique potential to discover and deliver our own drugs against some of the highest value (but currently undruggable) targets in cancer.”
In an additional encouraging finding, preliminary testing using one of the two Phylomers with superior activity to OmoMYC showed that this peptide was stable when incubated in serum for over 24 hours. Serum stability is an important ‘drug-like’ property required to achieve activity in animal models of disease.
Phylogica’s CSO, Dr Paul Watt, commented “To date we’ve assayed less than 20% of the hits identified in the primary screens against MYC as fusions to our cell penetrating Phylomers. We are encouraged by the high hit rate so far and are confident that a larger pool of specific MYC inhibitors will emerge once the functional screens are completed early next year. Once we have identified a broader set of MYC inhibitors we will then choose the highest quality candidates for analysis in animal models of cancer.”
Phylogica’s differentiation in the field of intracellular drug delivery now extends from best in class cell penetrating Phylomers for drug delivery to best in class active biologics drug compounds active against MYC. The company is looking forward to publishing the results of animal models demonstrating the effects of systemically delivered proprietary CPP-cargo compounds in 2016.
[1] Cancer research UK available at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/how-we-deliver-research/grand-challenge-award/challenge6?wssl=1
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