Tularik Receives Two National Cancer Institute Grants to Develop New Cancer Therapies
Tuesday August 12, 8:03 am ET
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 2003--Tularik Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRK - News) today announced the Company has received two Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for approximately $500,000 to support the development of new anti-cancer agents targeting KCNK9/TASK3 and WIP1/PP1MD. Tularik researchers discovered that each of these genes is amplified in various human tumors providing strong genetic validation for these targets. KCNK9 encodes a potassium channel implicated in breast and lung cancers, and WIP1 is a protein phosphatase involved in breast and prostate cancers. Targeting the products of these oncogenes represent novel strategies for developing anti-cancer therapeutics.
The KCNK9 grant is entitled "Development of Antagonists for an Oncogenic Potassium Channel" and the WIP1 grant is entitled "Small Molecule Inhibitors of the WIP1 Oncogene." The lead scientists on these programs are Lin Pei, M.D., Ph.D. and Richard Austin Ph.D, respectively. The two grants will support research to elucidate the roles of the genes in cancer and to develop drugs that target the proteins encoded by these oncogenes. Drug discovery efforts will include assay development, high throughput screening to identify lead molecules and medicinal chemistry.
"These grants validate our leadership in the field of oncogene discovery and provide additional resources to fund our development efforts in this area," said Andrew Perlman, M.D., Ph.D, Tularik's Executive Vice President. "Our research efforts in the area of cancer gene discovery have been extremely prolific and we are pleased that the NCI supports our program to discover novel therapeutics to treat a variety of common cancers."
About Tularik's Cancer Gene Discovery Program
The goal of Tularik's Oncogene Discovery Program is to identify and validate primary cancer genes, or oncogenes, and to discover and develop therapeutics that target the proteins encoded by these oncogenes. Proteins encoded by oncogenes play a direct role in cancer and are thus excellent targets for anti-cancer drugs. Tularik discovers oncogenes by using a variety of proprietary approaches. These techniques enable Tularik scientists to rapidly identify oncogenes that are involved in a variety of common cancers. To date, Tularik has identified 32 oncogenes associated with various tumor types.
About Tularik
Tularik is engaged in the discovery and development of a broad range of novel and superior orally available medicines that act through the regulation of gene expression. Tularik's scientific platform is focused on three therapeutic areas: cancer, immunology and metabolic disease. The Company currently has four drug candidates in clinical trials. In the cancer area, Tularik is currently conducting a pivotal study of T67 for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and Phase 2 trials with T607 for the treatment of HCC, ovarian cancer, gastric cancer and esophageal cancer. T487, for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, and T131, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, are in Phase 1 trials to evaluate safety and pharmacokinetic parameters. For more information, visit Tularik's Internet website at www.Tularik.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements. For this purpose, any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of Tularik to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, among others, risks detailed from time to time in Tularik's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2003 and the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002. Tularik does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
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Contact:
Tularik Inc.
Traci McCarty, 650-825-7182 (Investors/Media) |
