Astex drugs unveiled at cancer therapeutics conference

Astex Therapeutics has announced that the data on two of its drug candidates will be presented at this week’s International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in San Francisco.

AT7519 and AT13148 are two of five compounds in development by Astex for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies, discovered by the firm using its fragment-based drug discovery platform Pyramid.

A potent and selective Cyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK) inhibitor, AT7519 is currently in multi-centre phase one clinical trials, while AT13148, a potent and selective inhibitor of AKT and certain other AGC kinases, is in pre-clinical development.

Leon Bushara, chief executive of Astex, pointed out the firm’s anticipation of developing at least one new product every year.

"With fewer than 100 people engaged in drug discovery and development, we have generated a development pipeline of five novel products in less than five years and put two of those products into clinical trials," he noted.

"That record of productivity is a testament to the power of our drug discovery technology, the strength and focus of our organisation, and the ingenuity of our scientists," he added.

In addition to its internal drug research programmes, Astex is pursuing another six projects in partnerships with pharmaceutical companies including Novartis, AstraZeneca, Bayer Schering and Boehringer Ingelheim.