Avalon Pharmaceuticals Announces the Initiation of Drug Discovery Program for the MYC Oncoprotein - One of the Most Important an
February 20 2007 - 5:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
GERMANTOWN, Md., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Avalon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq and NYSE ArcaEx: AVRX), today
announced the initiation of a drug discovery program targeting the
MYC oncoprotein, one of the most important and previously
intractable cancer targets. MYC is one of the most frequently
deregulated proteins in human cancer, and is associated with many
types of aggressive tumors carrying a poor prognosis. "The MYC
pathway is recognized as a critical but elusive pathway for cancer
therapeutics," stated Carmen Allegra, M.D., a founding member of
Avalon's Clinical Advisory Board. "MYC has been known for years to
be central to cancer cell proliferation and survival, but it has
not been amenable to conventional approaches to drug discovery. A
drug targeting MYC action would be potentially very useful in the
treatment of a variety of human cancers." "Avalon Pharmaceuticals
is uniquely suited to discover drugs for these otherwise
intractable cancer pathways," stated Kenneth Carter, Ph.D.,
President and CEO of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "Our AvalonRx(R)
technology identifies potential therapeutics based upon their
ability to modulate pathways or targets within living cells. As an
example, we use RNAi technologies to suppress the key nodes in
these 'undruggable' pathways and screen for small molecules that
elicit a similar response. This approach may lead to the
development of first-in-class therapeutics." Avalon's pipeline now
includes: AVN944, a potential best-in-class IMPDH inhibitor now in
Phase I clinical trials for hematological malignancies;
beta-catenin and aurora pathways inhibitor programs which are in
late stage lead candidate optimization; a discovery program on
modulators of survivin function and now the new discovery program
surrounding MYC. Avalon's depth and breadth of pipeline affords the
company the option to selectively develop and/or partner these
programs. About Avalon Pharmaceuticals Avalon Pharmaceuticals is a
biopharmaceutical company using its proprietary technology,
AvalonRx(R), to discover and develop cancer therapeutics. Avalon
has a lead product in Phase I clinical development (AVN944 - IMPDH
inhibitor), preclinical programs to discovery inhibitors for the
beta-catenin and aurora pathways and value generating partnerships
with MedImmune, Medarex, and Novartis. Avalon Pharmaceuticals was
established in 1999 and is headquartered in Germantown, Md. About
AvalonRx(R) AvalonRx(R) is a comprehensive, innovative and
proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene
expression analysis. This platform facilitates drug discovery by
expanding the range of therapeutic targets for drug intervention,
including targets and target pathways frequently considered
intractable using conventional HTS approaches, allows more informed
decisions about which compounds to advance towards clinical trials,
and facilitates drug development through identification of
biomarkers of efficacy that can stratify patients or provide early
indicators of response. Forward-Looking Statements This press
release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the United States Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. These
statements are based on management's current expectations and are
subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstances, which
may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ
materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements.
All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in
nature are forward looking. Economic, business, competitive and/or
regulatory factors affecting Avalon's business are examples of
factors, among others, that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
All forward-looking statements are also expressly qualified in
their entirety by the cautionary statements included in Avalon's
Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. Avalon is
under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation
to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts:
Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Noonan Russo Gary Lessing Wendy Lau
(Media) Executive Vice President & CFO Tel: (212) 845-4272 Tel:
(301) 556-9900 Fax: (301) 556-9910 The Trout Group LLC Email: Chad
Rubin (Investors) Tel: (212) 477-9007 ext. 47 DATASOURCE: Avalon
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CONTACT: Gary Lessing, Executive Vice
President & CFO of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
+1-301-556-9900, Fax: +1-301-556-9910, ; or Media: Wendy Lau of
Noonan Russo, +1-212-845-4272; or Investors: Chad Rubin of The
Trout Group LLC, +1-212-477-9007 ext. 47
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