CARLSBAD, Calif., April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Ontogen Corporation today
announced the creation of its Oncology Advisory Group (OAG) that consists of
leading experts in basic and clinical oncology research. The OAG will provide
scientific and strategic guidance to Ontogen's management team regarding its
growing portfolio of research programs directed at bringing promising anti-cancer compounds into clinical trials.
"Ontogen's proprietary research efforts have yielded numerous promising
oncology-focused small molecule drug discovery and development programs," said
Barry E. Toyonaga, Ph.D., Ontogen's president and chief executive officer.
"The OAG's collective experience will greatly enhance our current focus and
promote future success in the discovery and development of novel drugs for the
oncology market."
Branimir I. Sikic, M.D., professor of medicine in the Divisions of Oncology and Clinical Pharmacology, Stanford University School of Medicine,
chairs the group that includes: Neil J. Clendeninn, M.D., Ph.D., drug development consultant and former corporate vice president of Clinical
Affairs, Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Daniel F. Hoth, M.D., clinical consultant, former senior vice president and chief medial officer, Axys
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and previous chief, National Cancer Institute's (NCI)
Investigational Drug Branch; Kenneth D. Krantz, M.D., Ph.D., clinical and regulatory consultant; Victor Ling, Ph.D., vice president of Research, British
Columbia Cancer Agency; and George W. Sledge, M.D., Ballve-Lantero professor
of Oncology, Indiana University School of Medicine. ONT-093, an oral P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor that progressed from
discovery to clinical evaluation in less than 18 months, is the most advanced
compound in Ontogen's anti-cancer R&D pipeline. The Company's other drug
discovery projects have yielded inhibitors of several validated oncology targets, including kinases known to mediate cell growth and tumor angiogenesis
in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers.
ONT-093, also known as OC144-093, is in Phase I development for two indications: 1) the prevention and reversal of multidrug resistance associated
with cancer chemotherapy -- a condition that affects as many as 75% of all
chemotherapy patients, and 2) the oral bioavailability enhancement of
Taxol(R) (paclitaxel) and Taxotere(R) (docetaxel), both of which are P-gp substrates
that require intravenous administration. Ontogen has filed an IND for ONT-093
in Canada, and a U.S. IND filing is pending. Michael Newman, Ph.D., executive
director, Biology at Ontogen, will present an update on ONT-093 in poster presentation # 2140, entitled "Enhancement of oral bioavailability of taxanes
and CNS penetration of loperamide by the P-glycoprotein inhibitor OC144-093"
at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research
(AACR) to be held on April 6-10, 2002, in San Francisco.
OAG Members
Dr. Sikic, Chairman of the OAG, is a leader in the pharmacology of anticancer drugs and the development of new cancer therapies. His research
spans the spectrum from molecular and genetic approaches in cancer cells to
clinical trials in cancer patients. Dr. Sikic has made major scientific and
clinical contributions to understanding the problem of multidrug resistance in
cancer cells. He has been a member of the Stanford faculty since 1979, and he
is both Director of Stanford's General Clinical Research Center and Director
of the Clinical Trials Office of the Clinical Cancer Center.
Dr. Clendeninn has led extensive research in areas that include chemotherapeutic multidrug resistance, opiate receptors and photochemistry.
Dr. Clendeninn most recently served as Corporate Vice President and Head of
Clinical Affairs for Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., now a subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc. Previous to Agouron, Clendeninn served as Director of the
Clinical Oncology Department for Burroughs-Wellcome Company. His other past
positions include assistant clinical professor in oncology at the University
of North Carolina, senior staff member at the National Cancer Institute, and
other general practice and academic-based positions.
Dr. Hoth provides in-depth biotech/pharmaceutical industry- and government-affiliated expertise in cancer and HIV. Currently a clinical
consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hoth was previously senior vice
president and chief medial officer for Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to
that, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Cell
Genesys, Inc., where he was responsible for cancer and HIV gene therapy trials. Prior to Cell Genesys, Dr. Hoth served as Director of the Division of
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome at the National Institute of Health (NIH),
heading all activities under the NIH's AIDS program. He also held past positions at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) including chief of the
Investigational Drug Branch and head of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program.
At the NCI, he was responsible for all clinical investigations of new pharmaceuticals, including 125 INDs and 1,200 active protocols.
Dr. Krantz has more than 25 years of experience in pharmaceutical development, regulatory strategy and planning, clinical research and
development, product license and acquisition evaluation, strategic planning,
research personnel assessment and training. He has participated in or directed 23 INDA and 15 NDA/PLA/ANDA submissions, including several in the
cancer area. Dr. Krantz previously served as Director, Clinical Pharmacology
and Pharmacokinetics for G.D. Searle & Company (now Pharmacia Corporation),
which included Phase I, IIa and bioavailability evaluations for all drug classes, new dosage forms and transdermals. Prior to Searle, he served as
senior director, Immunology and Anti-Infective Clinical Research at Schering-Plough Corporation.
Dr. Ling, an Ontogen co-founder, is world renowned for his discovery of the existence and mechanisms of drug-resistant chemotherapy. Dr. Ling has
coordinated cancer research for the British Columbia Cancer Agency over the
past seven years, and his pursuit of improved cancer therapeutics is a catalyst for more than 300 research scientists and staff. Dr. Ling has won
many major cancer research prize, including: the Robert L. Noble Prize, General Motors Research Foundation Kettering Prize, Bruce F. Cain Memorial
Award, Melvin L. Samuels Lectureship Award, and Dr. Josef Steiner Award. He
serves as director of the Board of the National Cancer Institute of Canada and
is an invited member of several cancer-focused advisory boards and scientific
committees.
Dr. Sledge has extensive experience in the development of novel biologic therapies for breast cancer. He serves on numerous national committees,
including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Oncology Drug Advisory Committee and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program's
Integration Panel. Dr. Sledge serves as editor-in-chief of Clinical Breast
Cancer, and he is currently Chairman of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group's Breast Cancer Committee.
Ontogen Corporation is a drug discovery and development company focused on the advancement of proprietary small molecule therapeutic agents to address
unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious diseases and other chronic medical
conditions. Development programs include ONT-093 for the prevention and reversal of multidrug resistance associated with cancer chemotherapy (Phase
I), the oral bioavailability enhancement of chemotherapeutics Taxol(R) (paclitaxel) and Taxotere(R) (docetaxel) (Phase I), and central nervous system
penetration of P-gp substrate drugs (pre-clinical). Additional pre-clinical
programs address other solid tumor cancer targets, infectious disease, Type 2
diabetes and wound healing. Ontogen strengthens its research capabilities
with proprietary technologies from its wholly-owned subsidiary Ontogen Discovery Systems, Inc., which enables the company and its partners to enhance
drug discovery accuracy and efficiency by alleviating traditional bottlenecks
in the drug discovery process. The Company has headquarters in Carlsbad, California and is privately held. For more information about Ontogen's
pipeline and activities, visit the Company's web site at http://www.ontogen.com
.
SOURCE Ontogen Corporation
-0- 04/03/2002
/CONTACT: Media, Wendy Emanuel, ext. 3077, mobile, +1-773-255-9580, or Investors, Jeff L. Riley, ext. 3205, mobile, +1-619-920-3205, both of Ontogen
Corporation, +1-760-930-0100/ Web site: http://www.ontogen.com
