BioLineRx In-Licenses Novel Peptide BL-4050 for the Treatment of Cancer
- Details
- Category: Proteins and Peptides
- Published on Tuesday, 02 October 2007 04:00
- Hits: 1791
JERUSALEM, Israel | October 1, 2007 | Israel’s leading drug development company, today announced that it has signed a worldwide exclusive license agreement with Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Weizmann Institute of Science, for the development and commercialization of BL-4050, a novel peptide for the treatment of cancer. Financial terms of the license were not disclosed.
BL-4050 was invented by Professor Yechiel Shai from the Department of Biological Chemistry of The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. “Professor Shai's invention holds the promise of expanding treatment opportunities for patients world wide. This license is an example of a fruitful partnership between academia and industry, which may lead to improvement of patients’ lives," stated Einat Zisman, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer of Yeda.
BL-4050 specifically attacks malignant cells, disrupting their membranes and inducing cell death. It is expected that this mechanism of action may lead to lower levels of toxicity and resistance than current therapies. In addition, BL-4050 is expected to have a wide spectrum of activity against many cancer types and has been shown effective in in vivo testing.
"We are excited to begin development of BL-4050, as it offers a novel approach against cancerous cells, with excellent results in animal studies so far. We will be putting BL-4050 through rigorous feasibility studies in preparation for pre-clinical development,” stated Morris C. Laster, M.D., CEO of BioLineRx.
About BioLineRx
BioLineRx, a clinical stage drug development company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE:BLRX), is dedicated to building a robust pipeline of promising therapeutics for unmet medical needs. The Company’s leading programs are for schizophrenia and treatment of damaged heart tissue post-myocardial infarction. Additional products under development include compounds for the treatment of cancer and CNS, cardiovascular, metabolic, infectious and autoimmune diseases.
BioLineRx advances projects from early stage discovery and lead generation to advanced clinical trials, regulatory approval and marketing. Partnering with researchers, universities and biotech companies to further the commercialization of promising compounds, BioLineRx seeks to enrich the pipeline of large pharmaceutical companies seeking their next blockbuster drugs. The Company was founded in 2003 by leaders in the Israeli life science arena including Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Giza, Pitango, Hadasit and the Jerusalem Development Authority. For more information, please visit www.biolinerx.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." These statements include words like "may," "expects," "believes," “scheduled” and "intends," and describe opinions about future events. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of BioLineRx to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: BioLineRx Ltd.