CAMBRIDGE, England, November 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Astex Therapeutics Ltd.
 today announced that data on its drug candidates AT9283, AT7519 and AT9311
 will be presented at the American Society of Hematology's 49th Annual
 Meeting and Exposition, 8-11th December 2007, at the Georgia World Congress
 Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
 
     AT9283 is an inhibitor of the kinases Aurora A, Aurora B, JAK2, BCR-Abl
 and Flt-3. There is strong evidence for an important role of each of these
 kinases in the development or progression of a variety of cancers. AT9283
 is currently being investigated in three multi-centre clinical trials,
 including a Phase I/II study in patients with refractory haematological
 malignancies.
 
     AT7519 is a selective inhibitor of certain Cyclin Dependent Kinases
 (CDKs), currently in two multi-centre Phase 1 clinical trials.
 
     AT9311 (also known as NVP-LCQ195) is also an inhibitor of CDKs, but
 with a pharmacological profile that is markedly different from that of
 AT7519. Astex is developing AT9311 in collaboration with Novartis.
 
     Astex discovered all of these compounds using its proprietary
 fragment-based drug discovery platform Pyramid(TM).
 
     "Astex has discovered and is developing a number of products that may
 have promise in the treatment of a wide range of life-threatening
 haematological diseases. Together with investigators from the M.D. Anderson
 Cancer Center and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, we are reporting for
 the first time that one of these, AT9283, has already shown early signs of
 clinical efficacy as a single agent in the treatment of advanced refractory
 AML and CML," said Harren Jhoti, Chief Scientific Officer and Executive
 Vice President of Astex.
 
     Hagop Kantarjian, Chairman of the Department of Leukemia at M.D.
 Anderson, Principal Investigator in the Phase I/II study of AT9283, said,
 "We see preliminary evidence of the anti-leukemic activity of AT9283 at
 well-tolerated doses in patients with relapsed and refractory
 haematological malignancies, including AML and CML. These results are
 encouraging and support further clinical development of AT9283."
 
     In addition to AT9283, AT7519 and AT9311, Astex has discovered and is
 developing:
 
     - AT13387, an Hsp90 inhibitor, for which Astex will file, during the
 fourth quarter of 2007, an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with
 the FDA to start clinical trials; and
 
     - AT13148, a potent and selective inhibitor AKT and certain other AGC
 kinases, which is in pre-clinical development.
 
     Astex also has five internal drug discovery programmes and is pursuing
 another six projects in partnership with leading pharmaceutical companies
 including Novartis, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim.
 
 
    Poster Presentations at American Society for Hematology Annual Meeting
 
     Title: A Phase I Trial of AT9283, a Multitargeted Kinase Inhibitor, in
     Patients with Refractory Hematological Malignancies
 
     Session Name: Acute Myeloid Leukemias: Therapy, excluding Transplantation
     Session Date: Saturday, December 8, 2007
     Presentation Time: 9:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
     Room: Hall B3 and B4 in the Georgia World Congress Center
     Poster Board #: 58
     Publication #: 904
 
     Title: Activity of CDK1/2 inhibitor NVP-LCQ195 against Multiple Myeloma
     cells
 
     Session Name: Myeloma: Pathophysiology and Pre-Clinical Studies,
     excluding Therapy - Novel Targets and Pathways
     Session Date: Saturday, December 8, 200
     Presentation Time: 9:00 a.m.- 7:30 p.m.
     Room: Hall B3 and B4 in the Georgia World Congress Center
     Poster Board #: 673
 
     Title: AT7519, a Potent CDK Inhibitor, Is Active in Leukemia Models and
     Primary CLL Patient Samples.
 
     Session Name: CLL: Salvage Therapies and New Agents
     Session Date: Monday, December 10, 2007
     Presentation Time: 10:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
     Room: Hall B3 and B4 in the Georgia World Congress Center
     Poster Board #: 2281
     Publication #: 3127
 
     Title: AT9283, a Potent Inhibitor of JAK2, Is Active in JAK2 V617F
     Myeloproliferative Disease Models.
 
     Session Name: Myeloproliferative Syndromes: Therapy
     Session Date: Monday, December 10, 2007
     Presentation Time: 10:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
     Room: Hall B3 and B4 in the Georgia World Congress Center
     Poster Board #: 2691
     Publication #: 3537
 
     About Astex
 
     Astex Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that discovers and
 develops novel small molecule therapeutics. Using its pioneering
 fragment-based drug discovery platform Pyramid(TM), Astex has built a
 pipeline of five molecularly-targeted oncology drugs, of which two are
 currently being tested in clinical trials and three are in pre-clinical
 development.
 
     In addition to its proprietary research programmes, Astex's
 unprecedented productivity in lead discovery has been endorsed through
 numerous partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including
 Novartis, AstraZeneca, Bayer-Schering and Boehringer Ingelheim.
 
     For further information on Astex Therapeutics and to download copies of
 the poster presentations after the meeting, please visit the Company's
 website at http://www.astex-therapeutics.com
 
 

     Contacts
 
     Astex Therapeutics Limited
     Jeremy Carmichael
     Director of Business Development
     Email: j.carmichael@astex-therapeutics.com
     Tel: +44(0)1223-226200
     Web: http://www.astex-therapeutics.com
 
 
 

SOURCE Astex Therapeutics