Andarix Pharmaceuticals Lung Cancer Drug Shows Potential as Therapy for Melanoma

    SOMERVILLE, MA, August 05, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A new study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings has revealed an alarming rise in melanoma among people aged 18 to 39: over the past 40 years, rates of this potentially deadly skin cancer increased by 800 percent among young women and 400 percent among young men. Andarix Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage company that develops personalized therapies for cancer, today announced that its lung cancer drug, Tozaride, targets the same receptors on melanoma cells and may be an effective therapy for both cancers.

In the U.S. there are approximately 1 million people with melanoma and 80,000 new cases per year. Ten thousand people die each year from skin cancer and the five year survival rate for late stage or metastatic melanoma is 15 percent.

"With skin cancer rates consistently increasing in young people in the U.S., there is a significant need for therapies that can treat melanoma, specifically in the later stages, said Chris Adams, CEO, Andarix Pharmaceuticals. Our lung cancer therapy has shown great promise targeting somatostatin receptors on cancer cells, particularly in lung cancer and because melanoma cells share those same receptors, we are excited about the potential for effective therapy of both cancers".

Andarix and others have determined that the somatostatin growth receptor is highly prevalent or overexpressed on more than 85 percent of all melanoma cancer cells. In pre-clinical work researchers have shown that targeting the somatostatin receptors on melanoma cancer cells with a peptide-radiolabel drug conjugate led to inhibition of the tumors. Somatostatin receptors are prevalent on a number of cancers, including lung, pancreas and neuroendocrine. The Andarix drug, Tozaride, is designed to target somatostatin receptors on cancer cells.

About Tozaride

Tozaride is a novel, best-in-class cancer therapy based on a radio-labeled somatostatin peptide analogue. Early clinical studies of Tozaride demonstrated that it is well tolerated and may produce prolonged stable disease and improved overall survival in advanced lung cancer patients whose disease has continued to progress after failing other therapies. Tozaride targeted radiotherapy represents a new treatment paradigm which is expected to yield significant clinical benefit for both lung cancer (SCLC, NSCLC), and pancreatic cancer patients. Along with its companion diagnostic that helps identify patients most likely to respond - those with sufficient expression of the peptides target - Tozaride could provide another treatment option for patients who are not eligible for, or who have not responded to current therapies.

About Andarix Pharmaceuticals
Andarix Pharmaceuticals is at the forefront of personalized therapies for cancer, developing both the imaging agents that can identify appropriate patients, as well as the targeted therapies for these patients. The company's products have progressed through early clinical development. The Andarix technology is based on a proprietary somatostatin peptide conjugate applicable to lung, pancreatic, neuroendocrine, and other cancers. Extensive research has demonstrated that somatostatin receptors are highly up-regulated on several solid tumors, particularly lung, neuroendocrine, and pancreatic tumors. To learn more about Andarix, please visit www.andarix.com.

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