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Title: New Preclinical Research Supports Ceflatonin in Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

"New Preclinical Research Supports Ceflatonin in Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia"

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA and MENLO PARK, C.A. -- March 23, 2006 -- ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today the publication of pre-clinical research supporting the expansion of its clinical development of Ceflatonin (homoharringtonine) to include treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients in addition to chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients. The paper, in the March 2006 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (Volume 5, Issue 3, pp 723-731), describes research performed in the laboratory of Dr Jean-Pierre Marie of the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris which elaborates on the cellular mode of action of homoharringtonine (sHHT) in AML patient cells. The authors strongly encourage further clinical investigation of sHHT in the treatment of AML. "This publication by Professor Marie's research team is a strong endorsement of the potential for Ceflatonin to treat a range of leukemias," said Greg Collier, ChemGenex chief executive officer and managing director. "We have recently reported positive phase 2 data for Ceflatonin treating CML, and have ongoing and planned clinical programs in MDS and AML. There is significant unmet medical need across a range of leukemias globally and we believe that Ceflatonin has the potential to meet these needs for many patients." Professor Marie's team found that sHHT (Ceflatonin) induced apoptosis (cell death) in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patient cells grown in culture. This apoptosis was achieved by mitochondrial disruption and the release of cytochrome c, resulting in the activation of the caspase-9 and caspase-3. It was also shown that sHHT triggered the turnover of the anti- apoptotic protein, myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1), which in turn induced the cleavage of bcl-2, a protein whose over-expression is linked to a number of cancers as well as resistance to conventional cancer treatments. The authors conclude that these findings strongly encourage further clinical investigation of sHHT in the treatment of AML. About Ceflatonin Ceflatonin (HHT) is a potent inducer of apoptosis (programmed cell death) in myeloid cells and inhibits angiogenesis (blood vessel formation). Ceflatonin has confirmed Phase 2 clinical activity in resistant CML, both as a single agent and in combination with other approved drugs. ChemGenex is developing Ceflatonin for the treatment of CML, myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. SOURCE: ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited

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