CURIS Issued U.S. Patent on Small Molecule Inhibitors of Hedgehog Pathway
Wednesday April 23, 7:59 am ET
Claims Cover Cur-61414, a Drug Candidate under Development for Basal Cell Carcinoma
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2003--CURIS, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS - News) - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday issued Patent 6,552,016 to Curis covering pharmaceutical preparations containing small molecule compounds that selectively inhibit a biological signaling pathway controlled by a protein called Hedgehog.
Included among the small molecules covered by this patent is CUR-61414, a compound that is under development by CURIS as a treatment for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of cancer in the United States.
A recent report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that CUR-61414 can selectively kill tumor cells while not harming adjacent normal cells in two models of basal cell carcinoma. This selectivity contrasts with more traditional cancer treatments that often kill both cancer cells and normal cells.
"The ability to selectively kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact represents the next generation of cancer treatments that are in development," stated Dr. Lee Rubin, CURIS' Chief Scientific Officer. "We believe that methods of inhibiting the Hedgehog signaling pathway represents a significant addition to this new therapeutic approach in cancer treatment."
"In addition to basal cell carcinoma, the Hedgehog signaling pathway has been implicated in the progression of several cancers, including small cell lung cancer, medulloblastoma, and others," said Daniel Passeri, CURIS' President and Chief Executive Officer. "CURIS is currently evaluating other cancer types to determine those tumors that also may be responsive to Hedgehog signaling pathway inhibition."
About CURIS, Inc.
CURIS, Inc. is a therapeutic drug development company. The Company's technology focus is on regulatory pathways that control repair and regeneration. CURIS' product development involves the use of proteins or small molecules to modulate these pathways. CURIS has successfully used this technology and product development approach to produce several promising drug product candidates in the fields of kidney disease, neurological disorders, cancer, and alopecia (hair loss). For more information, please visit the CURIS web site at www.curis.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements concerning Curis' or management's intentions, plans, expectations or predictions of future events are forward-looking statements. Such statements may contain the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates" or similar expressions. Forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Actual results can be affected by, among other things, uncertainties relating to product development, clinical trials, regulatory actions or delays, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, changes in or an inability to execute Curis' realigned business strategy and other risk factors identified in Curis' most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Curis disclaims any intention or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
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Contact:
For Curis, Inc.
Christopher U. Missling, Ph.D
617/503-6587
Marc F. Charette, Ph.D
617/503-6629
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Source: CURIS, Inc. |
