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news.ImmunoGen has unveiled encouraging preclinical data on its Sanofi-Aventis co-developed compound, AVE9633, revealing the compound to show anti-tumor activity in leukemia cells and to demonstrate greater efficacy than Wyeth's Mylotarg.
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The preclinical data were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Anaheim, California. ImmunoGen developed this CD33-targeting compound for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, and licensed it to the Sanofi-Aventis Group as part of a broader collaboration between the companies.
The data reported at AACR were from preclinical studies conducted by the two companies. In vitro, AVE9633 was found to selectively target and kill CD33-positive leukemia cells, as the compound was designed to do. In vivo, AVE9633 was able to eradicate tumors consisting of human leukemia cells in xenograft models, and achieved complete responses and cures at doses that caused little or no toxicity.
Additionally, AVE9633 was found to be more active than Mylotarg – an approved treatment of acute myeloid leukemia – against human leukemia cells in a xenograft model, and able to achieve tumor-free survival.
AVE9633 comprises the huMy9-6 antibody, which targets the CD33 antigen found on acute myeloid leukemia cells, and the potent cell-killing agent DM4. The antibody component of AVE9633 enables the compound to bind selectively to the leukemia cells, and the DM4 component is used to kill these cells.