Andarix Pharmaceuticals and Tulane University Collaborate to Further Research on Mediators of Cancer Cell Signaling

    BOSTON, MA, October 19, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- ANDARIX Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage company developing targeted peptide therapy for cancers announced today that the Company has entered into an agreement with Tulane University, an institution at the forefront of modern medical innovation, to license the technology and intellectual property concerning Notch Influencing Molecules.

The research and development license is accompanied by an option to commercialize the technology. The Notch technology was developed in the laboratories of Li-Chun Sun, PhD, and David Coy, PhD. Dr. Sun, professor of medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine, is a renowned researcher in peptide-based drugs and drug delivery systems in cancer therapeutics. As head of the biological section of the Peptide Research Laboratories of the Department of Medicine, Dr. Sun has recently completed research demonstrating that the activation of Notch1, a signaling molecule which plays an important role in epithelial cancers, up-regulates both somatostatin signaling and expression of its cognate receptor SSTR2. SSTR2 is widely over-expressed, and thus serves as a target in several cancers including small cell lung, non-small cell lung, pancreatic, neuroendocrine and cervical cancers. Dr. Coy is a professor of medicine and head of Tulane's Peptide Research Laboratories which have successfully developed two peptide-based therapies for oncology.

"We are pleased to formalize this relationship with Drs. Sun and Coy and Tulane, and we look forward to working with the Notch technology to bring even greater clinical impact to cancer patients who can benefit from our SSTR2 targeted peptide therapy," said Chris Adams, Andarix CEO. "This license allows us to expand our research on the benefit of targeting increased SSTR2 expression in treating somatostatin-related cancers." Andarix is currently preparing for Phase 2 clinical studies of Tozaride, a novel, best-in-class therapy for lung and other cancers based on a proprietary radio-labeled somatostatin peptide. The peptide preferentially binds to, and is internalized by cancer cells expressing SSTR2, delivering a lethal dose of radiation energy.

About ANDARIX
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 clinical stage development candidates are based on its proprietary somatostatin peptide conjugate. Extensive research has demonstrated that somatostatin receptors are highly up-regulated on several solid tumors, particularly lung, pancreatic and neuroendocrine cancers. To learn more about Andarix, please visit www.andarix.com.

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