The primary objectives of the collaboration will be to develop models of resistance to Panzem (2ME2) in order to identify key proteins that may be potential novel drug targets and to further the understanding of how 2ME2 exerts its antitumor and antiangiogenic effects.
Mark Bray, EntreMed vice president, research, said the company expects to
determine the relative importance of known 2ME2 mechanisms, as well as identify new protein targets and pathways whose functions are essential for the action of 2ME2 and its analogs.
“Further identification of pathways may help in selecting the most effective clinical indications for 2ME2 treatment, and may lead to the discovery of biomarkers useful for assessing 2ME2 activity in the clinic. Additionally, we hope to identify novel targets for new cancer drug development. 2ME2 (Panzem NCD) is currently in multiple phase I and 2 clinical trials for the treatment of cancer.”
Research will be conducted at CCIA and UNSW under a grant awarded by the Australian Research Council.