Results presented demonstrated that p110, whose expression under normal conditions is largely restricted to leukocytes, was highly expressed in more than 90% of hematologic cancer cell lines, including diffuse large B cell lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and in primary ALL patient samples. When these cell lines and primary patient cells were treated with CAL-101, evidence of pathway inhibition and cytotoxicity was observed, supporting the role of p110 in these malignancies, the company said.
Separate studies conducted in John Byrd’s laboratory at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University and Kenneth Anderson’s laboratory at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School also demonstrated preclinical efficacy for CAL-101 in models of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma, respectively.
Neill Giese, chief scientific officer of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, said: These findings demonstrate the potential of CAL-101 to selectively target the PI3K pathway in hematologic malignancies to induce cancer cell death. We have demonstrated preclinical proof of concept with this selective approach and we believe it may circumvent the potential toxicities that would likely result from pan PI3K inhibition.