POTP Point Therapeutics (MM)

Point Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: POTP) presented new data in an osteosarcoma model demonstrating that mice treated with talabostat had a four- fold decrease in the number of primary tumors compared to saline treatment. In a separate experiment in the study, mice treated with talabostat had a 20-fold decrease in the number of gross metastatic lung nodules compared to saline treatment. The studies, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Lee J. Helman, in the Pediatric Oncology Branch of the National Institutes of Health, were presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (iSBTC) Development in Los Angeles, CA this past Saturday. Osteosarcoma is the most common pediatric bone cancer in the United States. According to a 2002 article in the Journal of Oncology, advances in surgery and chemotherapy have led to cure rates approaching 70% for children who present with localized disease. However, children who present with metastatic disease have only a 20% survival rate. In one experiment, talabostat was shown to decrease the growth of primary tumors. Mice were injected intramuscularly with a murine osteosarcoma cell line and treatment with either talabostat or saline began the following day. Mice treated with talabostat had a marked reduction in the development of primary tumors. Only two out of 10 mice treated with talabostat went on to form tumors whereas eight out 10 mice treated with saline formed tumors. In a separate experiment, mice were injected in the tail vein with the murine osteosarcoma cell line to assess talabostat�s anti-metastatic properties. Post injection, mice were treated with either talabostat or saline. After 24 days, mice treated with talabostat had a 20-fold decrease in the number of gross metastatic lung nodules compared to the control group (p