Starving tumors

 

“We continue to make progress in the development of our inhibitor of glycolysis, WP1122,” commented Dr. Donald Picker, Moleculin’s chief science officer. “We believe that we have discovered new data during our IND-enabling research with animals that confirms a highly beneficial metabolism of WP1122 and significant organ accumulation of the inhibitor of glycolysis in the brain and also in the pancreas.

 

“This is especially significant because both brain and pancreatic tumors are highly dependent upon glucose for survival and WP1122 appears to have the ability to inhibit glycolysis, the process by which these tumors convert glucose into energy.”

 

Adds Walter Klemp, Moleculin’s chairman and CEO: “Metabolic inhibition of tumors is conceptually a very important approach, and we believe we have a clear translational focus. We have been pushing hard to prepare WP1122 for Investigational New Drug status. It is encouraging to have discoveries during this process that appear to confirm the initial premise and give us more hope that WP1122 could become an important new way to deal with difficult cancers like glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer.”

 

Moleculin’s clinical-stage drugs are Annamycin, an anthracycline designed to avoid multidrug resistance mechanisms with little to no cardiotoxicity (being studied for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, or AML), and WP1066, an immuno-stimulating STAT3 inhibitor targeting brain tumors, pancreatic cancer and AML. The company is also engaged in preclinical development of additional drug candidates, including additional STAT3 inhibitors and compounds targeting the metabolism of tumors.