Decided to get back into VION
Monday December 15, 9:34 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Vion Follows $50 Million Boehringer Ingelheim Deal with IND Filing on Triapine
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: VION - news) today announced that the Company has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for its anticancer agent Triapine(TM), a ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor. Triapine's target indications are for solid tumors such as lung, breast, and colorectal cancer, and melanoma.
The reductive conversion of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides by ribonucleotide reductase is a particularly critical step in the synthesis of DNA and is essential for cellular replication. Therefore, a strong inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase, such as Triapine, may be a useful agent in the treatment of cancer. Triapine has demonstrated significant in vitro and in vivo activity against murine L1210 leukemia, the murine M109 lung carcinoma, and the human A2780 ovarian carcinoma.
Vion is also developing water soluble prodrug formulations of Triapine with the assistance of a Phase I SBIR grant by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
''This IND filing is an important milestone for Vion, confirming our ability to independently advance a promising anti-cancer agent through preclinical testing and into clinical testing,'' said John A. Spears, President and CEO of Vion. ''If approved, this would represent our second active clinical trial program. Filing the Triapine IND and consummating a major corporate deal were primary goals for us in 1997. I am pleased we were able to accomplish both of these objectives this year.''
Just two weeks ago, Vion and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH announced an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement for the development and marketing of Promycin(R) (porfiromycin), Vion's most advanced anticancer agent. Vion previously noted in a Form 8-K filing with the SEC that Boehringer Ingelheim will pay Vion up to $50 million to license Promycin, in the form of upfront licensing fees, development milestones and expenses, and an equity investment.
Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel products and technologies for the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. The Company has an extensive research and development pipeline focused on five principal projects: Promycin (porfiromycin), a hypoxic cancer cell therapy currently being tested in a Phase III clinical trial; TAPET(TM), the Company's platform cancer treatment technology; Triapine; Beta-L-FD4C, a novel nucleoside analog for the treatment of viral diseases; and alkylating agent prodrugs, for the treatment of cancer. For additional information on Vion and its research and product development programs, visit the Company's Internet web site at vionpharm.com.
Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward- looking statements regarding the Company's future business prospects, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to those contained in the Company's Registration Statement filed on Form S-3 (file no. 333-37941).
SOURCE: Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
