ALS-357 Phase I/II Initiated by Advanced Life Sciences

ALS-357
Phase I/II Initiated

Therapeutic Area Cancer
Indication Melanoma
Company Name ADVANCED LIFE SCIENCES
Web www.advancedlifesciences.com
Industry: Biotech

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, cancer and inflammation made an oral presentation and presented a poster at the 232nd American Chemical Society National Meeting. This year's meeting is taking place in San Francisco, California, from September 10 through September 14, 2006. More than 12,500 scientists are expected to attend the Fall meeting. The Company's presentations detailed research on the chemical synthesis and apoptotic activity of caspase-activating pentacyclic triterpenoids.

The caspases belong to a family of protease enzymes that, upon activation, cleave an array of cellular proteins necessary for cell viability. This process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is necessary for the removal of unwanted or useless cells. The Company's lead oncology drug candidate, ALS-357, is a pentacyclic triterpenoid with an open IND to initiate Phase I/II clinical trials to treat metastatic melanoma in 2007. ALS-357 has been reported to induce apoptosis in melanoma, leukemia and difficult-to-treat neuroblastoma cell lines. It may target the mitochondria directly in these cancer cells, thus triggering activation of pro-apoptotic proteins involved in internucleosomal DNA fragmentation.

In the ongoing search for molecules effective against cancer with novel mechanisms of action, scientists at Advanced Life Sciences have embarked on the design and chemical synthesis of other novel triterpenoids. New molecules discovered through this research have emerged as potent second generation anti-cancer agents against melanoma, glioblastoma, ovarian and colon cancer cell lines. These molecules, like ALS-357, have been shown to induce apoptosis in these tumor cell lines and may represent potential new anti-cancer drug candidates.