Abbott to present novel cancer treatment data at ASCO meeting

Abbott has announced that it is to present data regarding its innovative cancer treatments at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on May 30th 2008.

The firm plans to show that the compounds known as ABT-263 and ABT-869 are showing promise in targeting the underlying mechanisms of cancer cells.

ABT-263 is a Bcl-2 family protein antagonist, while ABT-869 is an orally-administered small molecule that offers simultaneously specific and potent inhibition of the PDGFR and VEGFR families.

Both were discovered by scientists at Abbott and are now being developed by the company together with Genentech.

John Leonard, senior vice-president, pharmaceuticals, research and development at Abbott, said: “Researchers from around the world have requested to study Abbott’s Bcl-2 family protein inhibitors which is an indication of the potential value that ABT-263 might bring to the cancer research field.”

He added that the company has built an early-stage drug development pipeline that targets the processes that cancer cells need to survive and is anticipating further progress in this area.

In March 2008, the molecular diagnostics unit of Abbott announced a partnership agreement with Genentech, OSI Pharmaceuticals and Roche to develop a gene test to assess the benefit of non-small cell lung cancer drug Tarceva (erlotnib).