Singapore, Mar 26, 2009: Data showing the ability of omacetaxine to kill leukemic stem cells in mouse models with drug-resistant chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are the subject of an advance online publication in the journal Leukemia. The findings of this study provide new insights into the problem of minimal residual disease and may open the door to the development of a curative treatment strategy for some patients with CML, according to Australian pharmaceutical company, ChemGenex.

Commenting on the publication, Dr Shaoguang Li, the study leader at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, said, “Omacetaxine killed 90 percent of the leukemic stem cells in vitro. In contrast, imatinib and dasatinib, the two leading CML drugs, only controlled 9 percent and 25 percent of these cancer stem cells, respectively. We further demonstrated that omacetaxine prolonged survival in test animals carrying the T315I mutation, which would normally render them resistant to all currently available drugs.”

ChemGenex is currently developing omacetaxine as a potential treatment for a range of blood malignancies, including CML, and is completing a pivotal study in CML patients who harbor the T315I mutation. The company expects to complete its filing of a New Drug Application for use of omacetaxine in that patient population to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by mid-year.

According to the company, in US, almost 5,000 new cases of CML are diagnosed each year and recent estimates suggest that by 2025, prevalence will be 300,000. While there are a number of licensed drugs, collectively known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which are very effective in treating CML, they must be administered daily for the rest of the patient’s life; very few patients remain disease free when these drugs are discontinued.

Mr Hagop M Kantarjian, Chairman and Professor, Department of Leukemia, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said “While the currently licensed drugs target and disable the diseased cells in the blood stream and bone marrow, they have little, if any, affect on the primitive leukemic stem cells that are at the “root” of this blood cancer. I look forward to working with ChemGenex in future trials to evaluate the clinical application of these recent findings.”

Dr Greg Collier, CEO, ChemGenex added, “The results of Dr. Li’s animal study are very encouraging and we are currently collaborating with Prof Tessa Holyoake from the United Kingdom, to carry out similar investigations in primary human stem and progenitor cells. In the meantime, ChemGenex remains focused on our primary objective of developing omacetaxine as a therapeutic option for CML patients who have developed the T315I mutation and who are resistant to all first and second line TKIs. This is the most pressing unmet medical need in the field of CML management.”