HAYWARD, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--April 19, 2002--Kosan Biosciences Incorporated (Nasdaq:KOSN - news) announced today that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant was awarded to support Kosan's program to generate improved geldanamycin analogs for the treatment of cancer.
Geldanamycin is a polyketide with anti-tumor activity in a variety of animal models. A derivative of geldanamycin, allylamino-geldanamycin (AAG), is currently undergoing Phase I clinical evaluation by the National Cancer Institute. The $100,000 award is aimed at the generation of improved analogs with increased solubility and potency, using Kosan's technology for the manipulation of polyketides. C. Richard Hutchinson, Ph.D., Kosan's Vice President of New Technology is the principal investigator for the grant.
Dr. Hutchinson said, ``Geldanamycin targets the molecular chaperone, Hsp90, and triggers the destruction of a set of proteins referred to as 'client' proteins. These client proteins represent a Who's Who list of the important kinase targets in oncology as well as steroid hormone receptors. In effect, geldanamycins serve as a modulator of the function of these important targets.'' |
