BOULDER, Colo., April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented data on its lead oncology drug candidate TPI 287 at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, DC.
Data presented indicates that TPI 287 is orally bioavailable in rats and that oral dosing of TPI 287 has antitumor activity in a mouse xenograft model. In addition, data were presented from in vitro transport assays which demonstrate that TPI 287 is not a substrate for drug efflux in the MDCKII-MDR monolayer system and that TPI 287 demonstrates increased potency in cell cytotoxicity assays with MDR 1+ and mutant tubulin expressing tumor cell lines when compared to paclitaxel. A poster entitled "Oral Bioavailability and antitumor activity of TPI 287 -- a new taxane analog with greater activity against tumor cells with demonstrated mutant tubulin," Abstract No. 493, by David L. Emerson, Carol Bell, Mark Jones, Barbara Schiemann and Gilles Tapolsky was presented Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 8:00 AM.
About TPI 287
TPI 287, a proprietary third generation taxane, is Tapestry's lead clinical compound. This compound was designed to overcome multi-drug resistance in solid tumors that have become resistant to taxane therapy. In preclinical testing, TPI 287 demonstrated the ability to inhibit tumor cell growth in a number of in vitro cell lines and has shown inhibition of human tumors in certain animal xenograft models when tested against standard comparative agents. The in vitro activity was seen across multiple cell lines including cell lines known to be sensitive to taxanes and cell lines known to be resistant to taxanes. In in vivo testing TPI 287 demonstrated reduction in the rate of tumor growth in both taxane resistant and taxane sensitive breast cancer xenografts. Taxane sensitive cell lines in which TPI 287 shows activity include cell lines derived from breast cancer, uterine cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Taxane resistant cell lines in which TPI 287 shows activity include lines derived from breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. A number of these studies were presented at the November 2005 AACR/NCI/EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
TPI 287 is currently in two Phase I studies in the United States and overseas to determine the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of the compound. A number of Phase II studies are planned in several of the major tumor types and are projected to begin in this calendar year.
About Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a company focused on the development of proprietary therapies for the treatment of cancer.
For more information about Tapestry and its technologies, visit Tapestry's web site at http://www.tapestrypharma.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward looking statements include statements relating to the clinical development program for TPI 287, the safety and effectiveness of TPI 287, the ability of TPI 287 to overcome drug resistance, and the potential of TPI 287 as an orally administered compound. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include risks that human clinical trials may show that TPI 287 is unsafe and/or ineffective in treating cancer in human patients and the risk that TPI 287 will prove to be unsuitable for oral administration. General implementation risks associated with development of any of our products include those that we are blocked or limited in the development of our product candidates because of the intellectual property rights of third parties; that we are limited in our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce our own intellectual property; that development of our product candidates is delayed or terminated because the costs of further development exceed the value of such candidates; and that the Company's resources are insufficient to continue development and the Company will be unable to raise sufficient additional capital to continue operations and development. Additional risks, uncertainties and other factors are identified under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in the Company's reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new or additional information, future events or otherwise.
For further information, please contact Gordon Link, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, at 303 516 8500.
