Intezyne to Showcase Novel Cancer Resistance Pathway Inhibitor IT-139's Potential in Gastric Cancer at ChinaBio® Partnering Forum 2018 in Suzhou, PRC

TAMPA, Fla., April 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Intezyne, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cancer therapies, announced that President and CEO E. Russell McAllister will be attending the ChinaBio® Partnering Forum 2018 in Suzhou, PRC from April 25 - 26 and will be available for investor and partnering meetings in and around Shanghai, PRC from April 23 - May 1.

Intezyne's IT-139 is a novel Cancer Resistance Pathway (CRP) inhibitor for the treatment of pancreatic, gastric and other cancers in combination with existing anti-cancer therapies. IT-139 successfully completed a Phase 1 monotherapy study and was granted an Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in pancreatic cancer. Additional ODDs are expected in the next 18 months. Intezyne is currently manufacturing IT-139 and expects to initiate one or more combination Phase 1/2 studies by early 2019.

Until the late 1930s, gastric cancer was the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. While gastric cancer is now an orphan disease in the United States, with approximately 26K cases of stomach cancer diagnosed annually, it remains one of the most challenging-to-treat and deadliest forms of cancer, accounting for 11k deaths annually.

Worldwide, however, gastric cancer remains the fifth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer death, with a 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced gastric cancer of a meager 3%. In China, gastric cancer accounts for approximately 400k deaths annually, surpassed only by lung cancer.

In October 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to Merck's checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) for use in patients with PD-L1 positive advanced gastric cancer. In the 259-patient Keynote-059 trial, approximately 12% of patients (16% of PD-L1 positive patients) experienced at least partial tumor shrinkage following treatment, showing the relatively low hurdle for potential approval in gastric cancer and significant unmet medical need. Importantly, IT-139 recently demonstrated synergy in combination with checkpoint inhibitors by reducing checkpoint blockade resistance.

"We are encouraged by significant investment and licensing interest from potential partners worldwide, particularly in China and Japan," stated E. Russell McAllister, CEO of Intezyne. "Supported by compelling preclinical and human safety data, we look forward to initiating IT-139 combination studies by early 2019 which should allow us to quickly demonstrate proof-of-concept of this promising first-in-class adjunctive therapy."

For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.intezyne.com.

Source: Intezyne, Inc.

Contact:

E. Russell McAllister, CEO

[email protected], (813) 609-5017

SOURCE Intezyne Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

http://intezyne.com