Cytogen's Prostate Cancer Imaging Agent Used to Guide Therapy;
Combined ProstaScint and CT Scans Target sites for Brachytherapy Implants
PRINCETON, N.J., Sep 19, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- In a paper recently published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, clinicians reported using Cytogen Corporation's (Nasdaq: CYTO chart, msgs) ProstaScint(R) radio-labeled monoclonal antibody to guide delivery of more targeted radiation to prostate cancer cells. The researchers combined ProstaScint images with CT (computed tomography) scans to locate the highest areas of tumor burden within the prostate gland and implanted radioactive seeds within these areas -- a treatment called radioimmunoguided (ProstaScint) prostate brachytherapy. "I believe that biological imaging with agents such as ProstaScint will advance oncology treatment to the next level by helping improve cure rates and decreasing side effects," commented Rodney J. Ellis, M.D., Director of Brachytherapy, University Hospitals of Cleveland, and lead author on the new clinical study.
ProstaScint is currently marketed to help physicians determine whether prostate cancer has spread beyond the gland and metastasized to other tissues. In their study, Dr. Ellis and his colleagues used ProstaScint in a new way not yet approved by FDA. By utilizing ProstaScint's ability to bind a proprietary cancer marker (prostate specific membrane antigen, or PSMA) on prostate cancer cells, Dr. Ellis is better able to evaluate the extent of the tumor within the prostate gland, thereby allowing him to place radioactive seeds more effectively. Dr. Ellis believes that this technique permitted him to deliver higher doses of radiation to regions with a higher tumor burden and at the same time to spare more sensitive normal structures such as the urethra, rectum and bladder. This study was supported in part by Cytogen Corporation.
"Current diagnostic technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging or CT only provide anatomical information and do not offer insight into the biology of cancer," added Dr. Ellis. "Biological imaging will radically change current concepts in oncology."
Recently, Cytogen signed a binding letter of intent with Draxis Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRAX chart, msgs; Toronto: DAX chart, msgs) to market and distribute BrachySeed(TM) implants for prostate cancer therapy in the U.S. "ProstaScint- guided brachytherapy, incorporating the second-generation BrachySeed implants, clearly places Cytogen on the cutting edge of prostate cancer management," said Nicholas Borys, M.D., Vice-President, Medical Affairs. "We are looking forward to working with Dr. Ellis and other key prostate cancer researchers to optimize these important treatments."
ProstaScint is marketed in the U.S. by Cytogen and regulatory approval is pending in Europe and Canada. BrachySeed implants are robotically manufactured by Draxis and may offer improved dosimetry and better patient safety. As part of this comprehensive approach to prostate cancer, Cytogen is leveraging its proprietary rights to PSMA. With its joint venture partner Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Cytogen is developing in-vivo immunotherapies for prostate cancer, including cancer vaccines and monoclonal antibody-based therapies. With Molecular Staging, the Company is working on proof of concept for an ultra-sensitive assay for prostate specific antigen, PSA, and PSMA to detect the presence, progression, or reoccurrence of prostate cancer. The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, AxCell Biosciences Corporation, is developing a proprietary protein pathway database as a drug discovery and development tool for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. AxCell Biosciences has agreed to enter into a collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology to elucidate aberrations in protein signaling pathways underlying the metastatic spread of prostate cancer.
Cytogen Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company in Princeton, NJ whose mission is setting new standards in cancer care. Its two principal lines of business, proteomics and oncology, are built upon its expertise in antibodies and molecular recognition and are directed to development of novel products for the diagnosis, imaging, staging and treatment of cancer and a proteomics- driven drug discovery platform. The Company's cancer management franchise currently comprises four FDA-approved products: ProstaScint(R), used to image the extent and spread of prostate cancer; BrachySeed(TM) implants for prostate cancer therapy; OncoScint CR/OV(R), a diagnostic imaging agent for colorectal and ovarian cancer; and Quadramet(R), for the relief of cancer- related bone pain. The Company also has U.S. marketing rights to the late- stage product candidate Combidex(R), a magnetic resonance imaging agent being developed by Advanced Magnetics for the detection of lymph node metastases.
For additional information on Cytogen, visit the Company's web sites at www.cytogen.com and www.axcellbio.com.
This press release contains certain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Information in this press release, which is not historical, is forward-looking and involves a number of risks and uncertainties. Investors are cautioned not to put any undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. The Company's actual results may differ materially from the Company's historical results of operations and those discussed in the forward-looking
statements for various reasons, including, but not limited to the Company's ability to carry out its business plan, successful development and commercial acceptance of its products, ability to fund development necessary for existing products and for the pursuit of new product opportunities, the risk of whether products result from development activities, protection of its intellectual property portfolio, ability to integrate in-licensed products, ability to establish and successfully complete clinical trials where required for product approval, the risk associated with obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, dependence on its partners for development of certain projects, the ability to obtain foreign regulatory approvals for products and to establish marketing arrangements in countries where approval is obtained, and other factors discussed in the Company's 1999 Form 10-K and from time-to-time the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: Cytogen Corporation
Contact:
Richard W. Krawiec, Ph.D., Vice President, Investor Relations,
Corporate Communications of Cytogen, 609-750-8289
URL: axcellbio.com
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