The Liposome Company's Bromotaxol and TLC ELL-12 Highlighted in Two Abstracts At The
American Association For Cancer Research
PRINCETON, N.J., Apri1 1 /PRNewswire/ -- At The 89th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in New Orleans, LA., scientists
from the Liposome Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIPO - news) presented encouraging data concerning two products being developed for the treatment of various
cancers. One presentation describes research in the development of liposomal ether lipid, and the other compares the efficacy of bromotaxol versus paclitaxel (a
chemotherapeutic sold under the brand name Taxol(R), a trademark of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company) in murine models.
TLC ELL-12 is a liposomal formulation of an ether lipid, which has been shown to inhibit the growth of mouse and human tumors in experimental systems and
clinical studies conducted in the late 1980s, but which has demonstrated dose-limiting hemolytic, gastrointestinal and other toxcitities. In vivo, scientists at The
Liposome Company have shown that TLC ELL-12 is active against murine models of lung cancer, melanoma, leukemia and a model of a human prostrate tumor. In
vitro, TLC ELL-12 has also demonstrated effectiveness against multiple-drug-resistant cell lines. It is not thought to be myclotoxic at therapeutic doses. The
Liposome Company is currently conducting preclinical toxicology studies of TLC ELL-12 in preparation for filing an Investigational New Drug application with the
FDA in late 1998.
It has previously been hypothesized that free ether lipids' anticancer activities come from their ability to quench the rapid and uncontrolled multiplication of cells
characteristic of cancerous growth. At the AACR meeting, Liposome Company scientists presented an analysis of the effects of TLC ELL-12 on the expression of
cell surface proteins associated with cell differentiation and/or activation of cultured cancer cells. They determined that the presence of TLC ELL-12 causes the
activation of cell protein markers on the surface of cancer cells. This over-expression of markers may slow the host immune system to recognize with greater ease
the cancer cells in order to engulf and destroy them. The company's scientists are continuing to explore whether this contributes to the unique mechanism of action of
TLC ELL-12.
Bromotaxol is a prodrug of paclitaxel, an anticancer drug approved for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers and effective against a number of tumor models.
Bromotaxol ideally acts as a sustains release form of paclitaxel. This compound, its use and formulation are claimed in an issued U.S. patent assigned to The
Liposome Company.
In a presentation by Liposome Company scientists at the AACR, bromotaxol was compared to paclitaxel in the treatment of mice bearing human ovarian cancer,
human non-small-cell lung cancer or mouse leukemia. At similar dosing regimens, bromotaxol and paclitaxel had approximately equal efficacy in the treatment of all
three tumor models. However, there was a dose dependent increase in survival time for bromotaxol to a level greater than that achieved at the approximate
maximum tolerated dose of paclitaxel. Thus even in cremophor, the limited toxicity of bromotaxol may permit it to have increased efficacy and to be useful, for
example, in the treatment of such tumors as locally invasive human ovarian cancer.
The Liposome Company is a biopharmacetical company developing and marketing therapeudic products to treat cancer and related diseases. ABELCET(R)
(Amphotericin B Lipid Complex Injection) which has been approved in 19 countries, is marketed in the United States for the treatment of severe, systemic fungal
infections in patients who are refractory to or intolerant of conventional therapy and is the leading lipid-based formulation of amphotericin B in this country.
Preparations are underway to file a New Drug Application in the U.S. for the Company's second drug, EVACET(TM) (formerly TLC D-99) liposomal doxorubicin,
to treat metastatic breast cancer. The Company's product pipeline includes TLC ELL-12 and bromotaxol for the treatment of various cancers and programs focused
on the development of new cancer therapies and vehicles for the delivery of gene therapy.
Except for historical information, this press release contains forward- looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to statements
regarding the success of FDA filings for marketing approval of EVACET(TM), the commencement of clinical trials of TLC ELL-12 and the likelihood that
EVACET(TM), TLC ELL-12, bromotaxol or any other product can be successfully developed and commercialized. While these statements reflect the Company's
best current judgment, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary, including the risk factors identified in the Registration
Statement on Form S-3 dated October 29, 1997 and from time to time in the Company's other SEC filings.
SOURCE: The Liposome Company, Inc.
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