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news.Reata Pharmaceuticals has completed a license agreement with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, to acquire exclusive worldwide rights to a promising new class of anticancer compounds.
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Reata has initiated a preclinical development program with peloruside A, the first identified compound in the class, which could enter clinical testing as early as 2007. Peloruside A was first discovered in a marine sponge and was later patented in the US by Victoria Link Ltd, Victoria University’s commercial arm. Subsequently, researchers at UT Southwestern achieved the first total synthesis of this complex molecule.
Peloruside A, which has potent anticancer activity in a variety of cancer types, acts on microtubules, a target addressed by paclitaxel and other major anticancer drugs. However, research at Reata, Victoria University and UT Southwestern has shown that it binds to a distinct target site on the tubulin molecule and retains potent activity in cells that are highly resistant to paclitaxel and several other drugs in the class.
“These exciting compounds are an important component of the Reata product pipeline,” said Warren Huff, president and CEO of Reata. “Microtubule-stabilizing agents are among the most important drugs available for the treatment of cancer, and the development of useful new agents in this class is an important goal to increase therapy options for cancer patients.”