Genprex Announces New Patent Issuance in Japan

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new patent covering tumor suppression technologies, including the company's lead product candidate Oncoprex™, was recently awarded to The University of Texas System by the Japan Patent Office. Patent number 4813746 pertains to the discovery that chromosome 3p21.3 genes act as cancer suppressors. The family of tumor suppressors include TUSC2, also known as FUS1, the anti-cancer agent in Oncoprex therapy which is undergoing clinical evaluation for lung cancer patients in the U.S.

"Japan represents an important clinical population," stated Chief Operating and Financial Officer Greg Heinlein. "We intend to include Japanese collaborators in our development and commercialization plans and have begun to establish key relations within the region, including appointments of leading oncology experts to our Medical and Scientific Advisory Board."

Genprex controls a portfolio of biomedical technologies including targeted molecular therapeutics for cancer and other diseases. The novel technologies, including those licensed exclusively from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, are protected by 15 issued patents and 9 pending applications in major market areas. These broadly applicable technologies have been the subject of more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific publications in the fields of cancer, genomics and molecular biology.

About Oncoprex™

Oncoprex is a nanomolecular therapy harnessing the TUSC2 tumor suppressor. TUSC2 defects are associated with most major cancers and >85% of lung cancers. Intravenous Oncoprex induces apoptosis or programmed cell death in cancer cells and controls cell signaling and inflammation to fight cancer along universal cancer pathways. In phase I clinical testing of Stage IV lung cancer patients, Oncoprex monotherapy was well tolerated and demonstrated clinically significant anti-cancer activity in primary lung tumors and metastatic tumors, including liver and pancreas. A phase II clinical trial evaluating Oncoprex in combination with Tarceva® (erlotinib) is planned for 2012. The trial will enroll lung cancer patients without the EGFR mutation and patients with EGFR mutations who have become unresponsive to erlotinib.

About Genprex

Genprex, Inc. is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing nanomolecular therapies that control universal cancer pathways to unlock the unrealized potential of a variety of targeted cancer therapies. For more information about Genprex click here. Tarceva® is a registered trademark of the Roche Group, including Genentech and Chugai, and of Astellas Pharma.

SOURCE Genprex, Inc.