SHREWSBURY, Mass. -
Sept. 17, 2013 -
PRLog -- SignaBlok, Inc., a Massachusetts-
based biopharmaceutical company, today announced the successful
in vivo proof of concept data that demonstrate that the company's novel mechanism-based, first-in-class peptide inhibitor of TREM-1 effectively suppresses cancer progression in mouse models of lung cancer and dramatically improves survival in septic mice. SignaBlok’
s innovative approach to cancer and sepsis targets a specific receptor called TREM-1 that is expressed on inflammatory cells, macrophages, and serves as an inflammation amplifier. This receptor is critically involved in cancer, sepsis and other inflammation-
related diseases. The approach includes the use of short synthetic peptides that employ novel, ligand-independent mechanisms of TREM-1 inhibition and are designed using a new model of cell signaling, known as the SCHOOL model. The data were first unveiled at the 2013 American Association of Immunologists Annual Meeting in Honolulu, HI, in a talk and poster entitled "A novel ligand-independent peptide inhibitor of TREM-1 modulates the inflammatory response and improves survival in septic mice (P4210)" and at the 2013 Gordon Research Conference on Cancer Nanotechnology in West Dover, VT, in a poster entitled "Nature-inspired nanotheranostics for targeted cancer imaging and therapy." “These results are a crucial animal proof of concept not only for our novel approach to cancer and sepsis that uses a first-in-class, non-toxic TREM-1 inhibitory peptide but also for our strategy of targeted delivery of this peptide to TREM-1-expressing macrophages
in vivo using company's proprietary self-assembling nanoparticles”
, stated Alexander Sigalov, Ph.D., President, Inventor and Founder of SignaBlok. "SignaBlok has successfully leveraged its cutting-edge SCHOOL platform and macrophage-targeted delivery nanotechnology to create a portfolio of highly potent TREM-1 inhibitory peptide formulations."
Dr. Sigalov continued: "There is clear unmet clinical need for new therapies to treat lung cancer and sepsis, and we are very encouraged by the potential of a TREM-1 SCHOOL approach for the treatment of these life-threatening diseases. We believe that our key pre-clinical data set the stage for the development of a potential 'magic bullet' therapy not only for sepsis and lung cancer but also for other types of cancers such as pancreatic and colon cancers as well as for a variety of seemingly unrelated inflammation-
associated disorders, including radiation sickness, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis."
About SignaBlok SignaBlok is developing a new class of therapies – SCHOOL peptides, the innovative modulatory peptides that can be rationally designed for nearly any cell surface receptor and have broad potential to treat and prevent a wide range of serious diseases with unmet clinical needs. SignaBlok is also developing a nanotechnology that enables targeted delivery of SCHOOL peptides and other therapies and/or imaging agents, aiming to improve efficacy, reduce dose, and allow image-guided therapy. Additional information about SignaBlok is available at
www.signablok.com.
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