NEW YORK, NY, USA I April 8, 2013 I Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. (STML) today announced that an ongoing collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute featuring SL-401, currently in late stage clinical development for hematological malignancies including blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), has shown activity in an additional hematologic malignancy, multiple myeloma (MM), in preclinical models. At the 14th International Myeloma Workshop taking place in Kyoto, Japan on April 3-8, 2013, Dana Farber’s Kenneth C. Anderson, MD and Dharminder Chauhan, JD, PhD will discuss SL-401’s growth inhibition of MM by a novel mechanism of killing tumor-promoting plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) that are abundant in the surrounding microenvironment of MM. The investigators have previously shown that pDCs, which overexpress the interleukin-3 receptor (IL-3R), the target of SL-401, not only promote the growth of MM, but also may be responsible for the development of resistance to drugs that are commonly used to treat the disease (Cancer Cell. 2009;16:309-23).

SL-401 is a novel late clinical-stage targeted therapy directed to the IL-3R. IL-3R is overexpressed on multiple hematologic cancers, including on tumor bulk and cancer stem cells (CSCs). SL-401 has demonstrated single agent clinical activity in multiple hematologic cancer indications including advanced cases of AML and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Notably, SL-401 has also demonstrated robust single agent activity in patients with heavily pretreated BPDCN, a rare hematologic malignancy derived from IL-3R laden pDCs (i.e. the cells which also play a role in the pathogenesis of MM, as described above). Moreover, SL-401 has been well-tolerated and not toxic to the bone marrow. SL-401 is currently being advanced into registration-directed programs in advanced hematologic cancers.

Details on the presentation are as follows:

Interactions of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells with Myeloma Cells: Therapeutic Implications

Presenter: Dharminder Chauhan, J.D., Ph.D, Principal Associate in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Session: S17 Plasma Cell Biology 2

Date/Time: Sunday, April 7, 2013; 9:48-10:04am UTC+9

Location: Kyoto International Conference Center, Kyoto, Japan

About Stemline Therapeutics, Inc.

Stemline Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapeutics that target both CSCs and the tumor bulk. Among Stemline’s drug candidates are SL-401 and SL-701, both of which have demonstrated clinical activity, including durable complete responses (CRs), and an overall survival (OS) benefit versus historical controls in Phase 1/2 studies of advanced cancer patients. For more information about Stemline Therapeutics, visit www.stemline.com.

SOURCE: Stemline Therapeutics